5801 Pickney Street
by LilyBartAndTheOthers
Summary: Sequel to Until Death Do Us Part - Margot is back to Boston for a year. It is the perfect occasion for Jane and Maura to enjoy the French girl's presence without having to lie this time around. Or at least they think so. It is without counting on Margot's
1. Angles - Lack of Light - And Distances

_**Author's note: Here we go for the sequel to Until Death Do Us Part; daily updates (as usual), reviews and suggestions more than welcome.**_

**July**

**Chapter one: Angles - Lack of Light - And Distances**

She turned around as soon as she felt a weight on Jane's side of the bed but – too tired to open her eyes – she simply slid a leg between her wife's own ones and went to cuddle against her.

"Ouch! Maura!"

Fail. She had miscalculated the distance between her forehead and Jane's. Wincing in pain and still in the dark - too lazy to turn the light on - Maura moaned and apologetically shook her head.

"I am so sorry... Are you alright?" Hoarse voice. Jane had woken her up in the middle of the night in spite of being discreet enough. She never slept well anyway when her wife was out at night. "Let me check."

"No, I'm fine. I'm fine, Maura." Jane huddled under the blanket and delicately took her partner in her arms. They didn't bang, this time. "I just wanna sleep. Nobody's bleeding. It's okay."

Jane was tired. Her night shift had been long and painful. She was not in the mood for a medical checkup. Her eyes had already accustomed to the lack of light and all she wanted now was to fall asleep. It could wait. Everything could wait.

"Okay." Maura didn't insist. She settled on the crook of her wife's neck and planted a light kiss on her shoulder to soothe the pain. "I am sorry."

Jane murmured a vague 'yes'. She rolled her eyes. If there was one thing that she had learned about Maura since they had got married, it was that the medical examiner could be extremely clumsy.

In a cute way, though.

The thought made Jane smile and she felt her cheeks turn hot. Was she blushing? Everything about Maura was cute. Cute and sweet.

A well-known sound made Jane open an eye. She stared at the ceiling for a long minute as what she could now identify as successive bangs on her left suddenly reduced her chances to fall asleep anytime soon. She pouted; sighed.

"Maura?" Silence. _One, two, three. _"Maura!"

She hadn't yelled but had surely been a lot more insistent the second time around. A growl coming from her right let her understand that it had worked. At last.

"What?"

Another bang. It wasn't loud but annoying enough to let her fall asleep. She would focus on it and the next thing she knew, it would be time to get up and start a new day.

She was getting too old for this.

"What is Bass doing in our bedroom? He's banging his head against my bedside table. Again."

The question didn't trouble Maura. Jane felt her shrug against her body before settling better to go back to sleep.

"Maybe he is simply trying to communicate with you. I told you that you didn't talk enough to him. It... It is probably his own way to let you know that he would appreciate it if your interactions were more frequent."

_This has to be a joke, Rizzoli. _

Jane cast a glance at the floor on her left. She didn't see anything. The tortoise had probably moved now to another spot in the bedroom. She clenched her fists, began to breathe hard. She was losing her patience, she knew it.

"But not at 4am, dammit!"

Patience: over. Desire to sleep: gone. Jane was wide awake, now. Wide awake and pissed off.

"Stop yelling. You are going to wake up the whole neighborhood and scare Bass. He is sensitive, remember?"

Snort.

"And aren't they luck to be able to sleep... No freaking moody - talkative - tortoise to ruin their night!" Pause. "Ouch!"

Maura shrugged, satisfied of the snap on her wife's hip.

"There is no need for you to be so impolite."

...

She studied the shape of every single little cake with meticulousness before finally giving Jane an appreciative nod.

"Your _cannelés_ look perfect!" Maura approached a hand from one of them but her wife snapped it right away.

"Don't touch them!" Jane looked at the small French cakes. She had to admit that she agreed with Maura. She had followed a new recipe and the result looked more than appetizing. "And what's going on with the sweet things, lately? People are gonna start thinking you're pregnant."

The remark made them both giggle. They had been married for two years but hadn't come to a real conclusion yet about their motherhood desires. _Maybe not, maybe yes. _It was a perpetual ocean of doubts; an endless fog.

"Margot is going to be very proud of you." A smile played on Maura's lips as soon as she mentioned the French girl's name. "I am so happy that she is coming back here."

Her joy found an obvious echo on Jane's face who enthusiastically nodded.

Everything had gone very fast since they had received Margot's mail that told them that she had been accepted to Cambridge for a year.

Within two weeks, they had settled the date of her arrival and all the other details of her stay in Boston. Everything was ready, from her room on the campus to the bank she would choose to open an account.

The only thing missing now was Margot herself.

"Tomorrow... She's coming back tomorrow." Jane nodded at nobody but herself. "Now sit down and let me know what you think of them. If they're good then I'll bake some more. It's not the recipe she had taught me so I'm not sure..."

Maura obliged and gladly took one of the _cannelés_ Jane held out to her. From the outside, they did look perfect. She bit into it and closed her eyes. A moan of pleasure passed her lips. Thumb up.

Mission: accomplished.

"Good morning! I was stopping by to... Oh my god! What happened to you, Maura?" Angela rushed to her daughter-in-law and and cupped her face with strength to have a proper look.

"Bjrogurnmanehamenit."

"What?"

Maura managed to escape from Angela's hands but almost lost her balance and clutched to the kitchen counter at the last moment to not fall down. She motioned her mouth – chewed a bit more – then swallowed.

"A domestic accident. Thankfully, it isn't serious."

Angela was about to reply when she noticed that her very own daughter wore a matching bump on her forehead.

She squinted her eyes at it – divided between the desire to ask for more details and a more polite sentiment to remain uninformed – but finally forgot it all as soon as she spotted the cakes.

After all, it wasn't the first time that Jane and Maura took her aback. They formed a strange couple. Adorable but definitely odd, at times.

"May I have one? Who baked these?"

Jane waved her hands and grabbed her tablet to show her mother the recipe she had found earlier in the morning.

A quiet day at home. If she had hated these days off at some point in her life, she now cherished them with a very evident strength. She had found balance through her marriage; thanks to Maura. She did love her work more than anything but also had a private life, now. And she didn't want to forget it.

"It's a typical pastry from Bordeaux. I'm making some for Margot. Not the first time I try but they actually look like the picture, this time. Right, Maura?"

The scientist nodded; her mouth full. She had taken advantage of her wife's lack of attention to grab a second _cannelé_. Jane was right, though. She had to slow down on food. She was slightly in denial but the truth was that she had put on weight lately. For absolutely no reason whatsoever.

_Just because you are now married doesn't mean that you can let yourself go, Isles. Nothing is sure, nothing is eternal. Jane could leave you any time if she wanted to._

The door bell took Maura out of her wonders. She stood up – adjusted her summer dress – and went to open the door. They weren't expecting anyone but dispatchers often delivered her medical files when she wasn't at the morgue. As a matter of fact, it happened all the time.

She put her stilettos on as she reached the lobby and cast a very last look at her reflection in a large mirror above the console table before opening to their visitor.

"Helloooooo!"

Maura froze; her mouth wide open.

Her reaction made Margot giggle. The student was standing on the threshold surrounded by a dozen of travel bags and suitcases. She looked ecstatic.

"Surprise!"

It took Maura a lot of efforts to finally react. She shook her head – as if to make sure that it wasn't a dream – and laughed in disbelief. Hands on her hips; cute frown on her face.

"Weren't you supposed to arrive tomorrow? I thought... I thought you had said Sunday." She tilted her head and bit her lip as Margot smiled.

She had missed her so much.

"Oh no... Don't cry!" Margot took Maura in her arms. She couldn't help giggling. "What happened to your forehead?"

Maura rolled her eyes and tried to swallow back the wave of emotions that Margot's presence had stirred up.

"An unfortunate story of angles – lack of light – and distances." She grabbed half of Margot's bags and let the young student come in. "Jane will tell you I tried wrestling on her, though... Don't believe her. It is a lie."


	2. Margot's Way Of Life

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews and messages, I'm glad to see you all back here.**_

**Chapter two: Margot's Way of Life**

"How's the boyfriend doing? He was okay with... The idea of you coming here for a year?"

Jane's question made Margot smile. They had spent the day together going from one spot to another in Boston and were now enjoying an iced coffee at the terrace of a cafe in the shadows of some trees. Maura would join them soon. She had worked all day long but had promised to leave her office early enough to enjoy an evening out in the city with them.

An evening out, the three of them. Just as it had to be.

"There is no boyfriend."

"Girlfriend then...?" Jane made a face and giggled before shaking her head, implicitly asking the young girl to not pay attention to what she had just said.

She knew that Margot wasn't into girls but she had a hard time believing that she had been single for the last two years. It didn't make sense. Margot was bright and pretty. Young too. She should have been dating someone. College students did.

_You're thinking like ma', Rizzoli. Watch out. What's next? You'll harrass her with marriage? Calm down and let her live, dammit._

"No!" The French girl grabbed her iced coffee and held it tightly between her hands. "I am simply... On a break."

"Bullshit. I've been your age too... Once..." Jane made a face as she realized that her twenties were long gone now. "And you shouldn't be leading the nun life you're having right now. You'd go out and take advantage of your youth!" Jane winked to let Margot understand that she was only kidding. "Sorry to break the news but it won't last, you know. One day you'll wake up tired and sore. You'll be too old for that. Believe me, I know what I'm talking about."

The 2.0 Angela Rizzoli Method miserably failed.

Margot didn't look convinced. She pouted and focused on a tree nearby. Its green leaves seemed to float in the summer breeze like a thousand flags.

"Maura never told you?"

Jane frowned in confusion. She hadn't meant to sound intrusive at all but the fragile tone of voice Margot had just used tended to let her think that she had crossed some limits. Some limits she should have never reached in the first place.

"Told me what...?" She straightened up, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

Margot locked her eyes in hers; chin up, almost in defiance. She wasn't angry – she never was – but a painful pride seemed to have invaded her. Something Jane had never witnessed before. The French student swallowed hard.

"I went through a bad patch when I was fourteen. I don't even know why. I didn't do drugs but... It's when I started going to parties and life went a bit wild. Nothing serious but suddenly I..."

Jane's heart had started beating faster. She hadn't expected any revelation whatsoever. It had been a light day. They had simply stopped by a cafe to have a drink and wait for Maura. The situation was beyond her. She wasn't ready for that.

"I went from one guy to another. All these parties... It was so easy! Alcohol made it easier too." Margot frowned and looked at the table. "I guess I just wanted to feel alive...?"

"Did it work?"

Margot shook her head and let a bitter laugh pass her lips.

"It only made me feel dead inside." The shades of loneliness didn't last long on her face. She soon started smiling again, as she always did. Margot was a joyful person; easy going. "It belongs to the past. It's almost... You know, like another life, another person. It was already behind me when I came here two years ago."

"That doesn't mean you can't be in a relationship anymore." It was ridiculous but Jane was really trying to not sound shocked by the news. It didn't fit. Margot couldn't more different than the person she had just described. "I mean... There's no rush but don't prevent yourself from... From living."

Margot nodded as a grin lit up her features. A honest one, bare and strong at the same time.

"I know. It's just... It's just that now, I prefer to wait for someone who'll make me feel special and not just the first guy who'll appear at the corner of the street. I'm really over that. It was stupid. A very... Teen crisis thing."

A pair of hands on her shoulders made Jane slightly jump in surprise. She leaned her head backwards just as Maura was bending over to plant a kiss on her lips.

"Hi, you." Maura exchanged a knowing look with her wife – went to kiss Margot on the cheeks – and finally sat down on a chair. "I had said 5pm, it is 4.55pm... Perfect! So, how was your day?"

Jane didn't manage to reply. Margot's confession had taken her aback. She simply cast a glance at Maura and grabbed her hand to hold it tightly. She needed the touch. She needed to feel loved.

"I took her to the museum and it had nothing to do with sports."

Gasp. But Maura turned out to be faster. She burst out laughing and kissed Jane's cheek as if to sweep away the mock of betrayal that was now deepening her features.

Jane squinted her eyes at Margot – pretended to be offended and angry - but she failed. A grin soon lit up her features. She laughed.

"I love it when you make an effort to please people you love, Jane."

Her wife's compliment went straight to her heart. Maybe she hadn't lost everything in this vain battle against the two nerds Maura and Margot were.

"Of course that means I'll watch the game on Sunday. I need to have a balanced life. Too much art kills art."

Maura rolled her eyes but didn't insist. Since Margot had come back to Boston, she felt a lot more serene; at peace with herself and her rather stressing life to the point she didn't even feel the urge to bicker with Jane all the time.

"Do you have an American cell phone number, now?" Nod. "Perfect. It seems like you are settled for the year. The campus, a bank account, a phone... It is time to celebrate!" Maura grabbed Jane's iced coffee and raised the glass. "Cheers." She took a sip.

"Hey! That's mine!"

Jane's vehement protest didn't scare Maura the slightest bit. On the contrary. She lightly laughed then winked at her wife before engaging in a conversation with Margot about the advantages of living on the campus.

Margot would move there in September when the summer classes were over. In the meantime, she had found back her bedroom at the Beacon Hill townhouse. And everything was alright.

...

"What are you doing?"

Her lips on her wife's bare shoulder, Jane looked up and echoed Maura's light laugh.

"Don't you know it by now? It's my way to ask you if you'd like to play Scrabble with me." Pause. She rolled her eyes before Maura's confused look. "No, not really... What do you think I'm doing... Kissing your shoulder while getting you undressed?"

"I thought you were tired." Maura leaned up on her elbow and raised an eyebrow at Jane. "This is the reason you gave me to postpone our European move night. Did you lie to me?"

_Busted, Rizzoli. _

"Well..." Jane let the strap of Maura's negligee slide between her fingers, brushing from time to time the hot skin under the thin piece of clothing. "I can't sleep. Frenchie's not back yet."

"So you assumed that sexual intercourse would be a nice way to spend time until you hear the door gets slammed?"

Alright. Perhaps she hadn't come up with the right excuse. Jane sat up in bed and sighed. Obviously, Maura wouldn't let her do anything if she didn't find a better way to express herself right now.

"Aren't you worried? Not even a bit? She's out and it's 10.15pm."

"She is eighteen years old, Jane. Besides, I trust her. There is no curfew. She went out with people she met two years ago and they have kept in touch. She is hanging out with friends. She is leading her life!"

Jane looked down at Maura's lowcut. She had turned on a side to rest in a position that really didn't leave much to the imagination. It wasn't helping at all.

_Yeah and I wouldn't mind leading mine too._

She approached a finger and began to trace an invisible path on Maura's shoulder. The touch made the scientist swallow hard. Jane smiled. It worked every single time.

"C'mon, you know you're not a hobby. I'm a bit worried because it's getting late and she's out and... She's under our responsability as much as she isn't sixteen anymore." Strap: down. Victory. "But I also want you. Right now."

Before Maura had a chance to reply, Jane softly pinned her under her body and captured her lips in a mischievous kiss. The unexpected move made Maura smile. She gave in, wrapping her legs around Jane's waist to hold her tightly.

Margot was back but she had changed and they had to accept it. She was an adult now and was free to go out if she wanted to. She had let them know, besides. It wasn't as if she had run away just like that in the middle of the night.

_She's leading her life, Rizzoli. Shouldn't you be happy about that? She's having fun right now. Just as she should._


	3. All The Things We Didn't Tell You

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all the reviews!**_

**August**

**Chapter three: All The Things We Didn't Tell You**

It had become a tradition of some sort; one of these ridiculous couple rituals nobody could really understand for not being part of this singular bubble that formed a love story.

Her Rayban's on – her hair up in a bun – and a glass of Margarita in hand, Jane closed her eyes and started a couple of dance moves to set the tempo.

She knew it by heart. It wasn't _their_ song – they did not have one, as a matter of fact – but this one still belonged to their life. A bit shamefully. It wasn't something that she felt like sharing.

People would make fun of them if they got to know about it.

_And one, two, three._

"Reggae night... We come together when the feeling's right... Reggae night... And we'll be jammin' till the morning light... Oh oh oh reggae night... Oh oh oh... Reggae night..."

Her voice rose in the air at the same time as Maura's.

None of them really could carry a tune but it was okay; they didn't mind. They always sang along when they heard this song on the radio. It put a bright smile on their faces and had become the perfect symbol to a sweet parenthesis in a life that wasn't always easy.

"Oh oh..." She opened her eyes back and froze. "Oh." End of karaoke time. Her third and last exclamation hadn't been said in a desire to follow the lyrics at all. It had only highighted her surprise.

"Keep on rockin'... Oh..."

Jane cleared her voice and sat up in the swimming-pool, suddenly embarrassed for her wife because if she had noticed Margot's presence in the patio, Maura hadn't and was still singing along. Her eyes closed. A large straw hat on her head – Chanel sunglasses on – while sipping on her very own Margarita.

"Maura!"

The scientist finally turned quiet. She opened her eyes and followed the direction Jane motioned with her head.

The reggae beats kept on filling the air – piercing through the old transistor radio on the floor - not really matching Jane and Maura's sudden discomfort.

Margot was standing in the middle of the patio and looked extremely amused to have walked in on her hosts while they were singing old tunes at the top of their lungs. She didn't burst out laughing though – she was too polite to do so – but the smirk that played on her lips was enough to make Jane feel like dying at the scene.

"I didn't know that you had..." Margot looked down and held back a giggle. "A _My Little Pony_ pool. It's very... Very pink."

"They were running out of adult themed swimming-pools when we bought it, okay?" Jane was on the defensive but she had all the reasons in the world to be. Or so.

She wasn't particularly fond of their swimming-pool but it did its job and they now had a cool spot they could enjoy in the patio when the temperatures of the city reached the ones of a microwave.

_Adult themed swimming-pool? That sounds awfully kinky, Rizzoli._

She adjusted her black bikini only to hide better her nervousness and took a long sip of her cocktail. Something told her that she would need it.

"Would you like to join us? It is a small swimming-pool but three people can nonetheless fit."

Margot politely declined Maura's offer. She was coming back from the beach and had had her dose of water and sun for the day. She raised her index finger to interrupt Maura.

"I have a question though..."

Jane and Maura nodded in silence then waited for Margot to speak again. None of them had moved nor tried to get out of the small pool. They were still coping with the slight humiliation over _Reggae Night_.

"Do you really..." Margot began to sing. "_Come together when the feeling's right_?" She winked and started giggling.

The question made Maura frown.

"Come to what?"

"Oh boy." Jane buried her face in her hands as Margot burst out laughing before Maura's question; humming along the tune.

Of course if there was someone who would miss the innuendo, it had to be Maura. Of course. She always chose her moments to be literal and misinterpret people's reaction.

"Oh...C'mon, Jane! She didn't walk in on us in a compromising position." Maura rolled her eyes as she assumed that her partner still felt embarrassed by the whole situation. "We aren't newly weds anymore. It has been two years, now."

Maura grabbed Jane's hand and gently squeezed it before locking her eyes with her wife's dark ones. Two years already. Time surely flew by.

_The best two years of your life, Isles._

"Two years...?"

Margot's voice rose in Maura's back – full of uncertainty – and made her freeze. She swallowed hard and looked down at her Margarita. Hmm. She should have known better than to drink in the sun. It always made her a bit too talkative, not alert enough.

_Well done, Isles. Really... Congrats._

It took her a lot to break eye-contact with Jane and dare to turn around to face Margot again. As a matter of fact, if Jane hadn't turned livid and hadn't started looking like a zombie then Maura would have not even tried to shift her position.

Not that she was trying to blame anyone. She was the only one responsible of what had just happened. Jimmy Cliff's cheerful song seemed completely inappropriate now, incongruous. But the radio kept on playing the tune as if nothing had happened.

"I guess..." She bit her lower lip and hesitated for a few seconds. She had no idea what to say. She was sitting in a _My Little Pony_ swimming-pool – wearing nothing but a bikini – while sipping on one very strong cocktail. "I guess we need to talk, Margot."

_You bet you do, Isles._

...

"I heard the door. They're here."

The last time Jane had reached such level of nervousness, she had welcomed Margot for two months at Maura's place pretending to be her wife.

Back to the start. Or so. Two years had passed by but her emotions were exactly the same ones right now.

Her heart was beating extremely fast and her hands were moist. It was a bit stupid as Margot wasn't her daughter but the evening held a special place in her heart and she hoped that it would all go just fine. She wanted it to be perfect.

Margot had met someone.

She hadn't been extremely talkative about him but nonetheless wanted to introduce him to her and Maura which they both had immediately accepted. Out of a very bad curiosity.

Thankfully, Margot hadn't taken it badly when they had confessed that they had lied about the nature of their relation during her first stay in Boston and their bond hadn't suffered from the revelation at all.

She had quietly listened to them tell her the whole story – _their_ story – and when they had finished, a soft smile had played on her lips. She had had doubts at the time but hadn't bothered to ask. End of the soap opera confession. Back to a honest relation. At last.

Maura nodded at Jane and cast a last glance at the patio to make sure everything was perfect. The swimming-pool had been put on a side behind a large table. She had opened a bottle of wine and prepared some _hors-d'oeuvre_. Everything was ready. Yes.

"Are you there?" Margot poked her head through the open door and finally walked out. She looked happy and confident. She motioned someone to follow her outside. "I'm sorry it took longer than... Than expected... But the traffic back from the beach was a nightmare."

She could have been speaking Chinese that Jane and Maura wouldn't have noticed anything, way too busy as they were staring at the young man who had finally appeared by the door.

He looked nice, rather attractive too. This second point made Jane purse her lips. She had nothing against Brad Pitt lookalikes but she knew – from experience – that they didn't have the best track record one could find.

_Will you stop already, Rizzoli? How can you judge him? He hasn't said a word. He's into charities and stuff. He gotta be someone good. Damn... Remember what Margot told you? The girl's looking for something a bit serious so he must be trustful and all. _

"Leo, I presume?" Socialite mode: activated. Maura politely held out a hand and shook the man's. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Yeah... Margot..." Jane took a deep breath. Her voice was shaking, it wasn't a good sign at all. "She talked a lot about you."

Hmm. Not only did that sound a bit too much like something her mother could actually have said but it was only half-true besides. Margot had remained evasive. She hadn't given many details.

Leo flashed a bright smile and cast a glance at Margot.

"Only good things, I hope." He winked at her then focused back on Jane and Maura." I'm really glad to finally meet her mothers, you know... I work for a LGBT association so I was really happy when she told me that her parents were in a same-sex relationship. If only close-minded people could meet Margot. A balanced, bright girl. She'd surely make them change their mind about same-sex couple parenting."

The remark made Jane slightly lose her balance. She grabbed the first thing out of reach which turned out to be Maura's arm. She squeezed it tightly. Too tightly. But Maura didn't seem to feel the slightest thing. She had frozen and was now staring at Leo blankly.

Jane and Maura's Shock Scale Results: highest level ever recorded in their respective lives.


	4. This Will Never Stop

_**Author's note: welcome back if you have survived the technical glitch; if not, you will be missed.**_

**Chapter four: This Will Never Stop**

Maura began to breathe again the moment the door got closed and Leo left. Her heartbeats were not regular but she hoped that it now was only a matter of time before she found back a semblance of normality in her breathing.

Clutched to the edge of the kitchen counter, she watched how Margot turned around and made a few steps towards them with a rather evident nervousness.

_At least she has a conscience. Good start._

"Is this your way to punish us for what we did when you came to Boston for the very first time?" It was a fair question but Maura couldn't help thinking that she had lacked patience and had jumped a bit too quickly to a harrassing method of questioning. "We already apologized for it." High-pitched voice.

She was now panicking again. Goodbye, peaceful breathing.

"No, of course not." Margot sat on a stool and leaned her head against the palm of her hand. "I had no evil plan in mind when I met Leo but he seemed so passionate about the association that... Well, it just came up by itself." She shrugged and made a vague gesture of the hand.

Maura exchanged a knowing look with Jane. They weren't angry. It was an incongruous lie – almost a funny one if they thought about it with objectivity – but they were completely taken aback by it.

"You can't base a potential relationship on a lie, Margot. He'll eventually find out about it. What will you tell him when it happens?"

Jane was right and they all knew it. For once, she was showing maturity and wisdom instead of just hiding behind sarcasm as she used to when she wanted to run away from an issue. Probably because it mattered to her. Margot mattered. A lot.

"I'm only here for a year then I go back to Bordeaux. I won't see him ever again..."

Jane raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms against her chest. She was extremely surprised by the statement.

"I thought you were looking for something serious."

"Isn't a year more serious than twenty minutes?" Margot smiled bitterly then shook her head to apologize for the remark. Not the best moment to make a joke. "I don't think Leo's the man of my dreams but I think we can live something lovely and maybe that's all I need. Something light but nice. I'm not deeply in love with him but there's something."

"But how can you hope your relationship with him to be sincere if it's based on such a big lie? I am sorry but I have to admit that I agree with Jane on this point."

Maura grabbed a bottle of wine that they hadn't finished and poured herself a large glass. She really needed alcohol right now. The shock of the news was still latent. Of course, they hadn't said a word during the evening and the meal that they had shared with Leo. Their conversations had focused on other topical issues and she was thankful for that.

But now that he had left, they couldn't pretend that nothing had happened.

"I can't lie, besides. If I do, I break into hives or pass out. Ask Jane about it. I am physically unable to lie. How would that even work out?"

Margot's attitude changed right away. She straightened up and barely hid the timid smirk that now played on her lips. She crossed her hands and nodded with determination.

_Frenchie has a plan, Rizzoli. Watch out._

"Very easily. Jane is my biological mother. We're both brunettes and she's older so it..."

"Hey!" Jane pouted. "I'm not _that_ old. An eighteen-year-old daughter? Nobody's gonna believe it."

"Why? You are forty-two. That means you would have had Margot at the age of twenty-four. It isn't _that_ young. As a matter of fact, it does sound plausible."

Jane stared blankly at her wife with the cruel desire to take her glass of wine away from her. Maura was not helping with all her calculations right now. Why did she have to be such a science geek, at times?

And there was no need to yell her current age either. She perfectly knew how old she was. No need of a reminder. No. Need. At. All.

"See!" Margot enthusiastically clapped her hands. "Mommy Jane..." She grinned.

Jane looked at her wife: her eyes squinted in anger, her lips pursed.

_Thank you, Maura. Really. That was exactly what we have to avoid right now. Don't give fuel to her crazy scenario._

"What do you do of Maura's incapacity to lie? I don't want her to have a season ticket for the ER..." Jane proudly smiled. Her argument was strong, perfect. She shook her head at Margot. "That won't work."

"She didn't have any issue to let me think she was married to you."

Jane made a face. Okay. Perhaps her argument wasn't as strong as what she had assumed in the first place. Margot would have been a terrific attorney.

What she had just said caused Jane and Maura to look down. They were still a bit ashamed of their own past behavior even if it was slightly bitchy from Margot to use it against them now.

_Karma is a bitch, Rizzoli. You're just paying for your own lies._

"We don't even have pictures of you as a baby. It's..." Jane's determined tone of voice was flying out of the window by the second. She was now whispering her lack of confidence. "It's just really too complicated." She shook her head. "Nah. I can't do that." Her index finger landed on the kitchen counter with strength. "Over my dead body, young girl."

...

"I'm done with the first montage. Wanna see it?"

Jane reluctantly looked up at Frost from her computer and shrugged. Mumbles. Of course, she had abdicated and Margot had won. It was wrong and immoral but she had given in. Or better said, she and Maura had given in. She wasn't alone in all this and it wouldn't even have happened in the first place if Maura hadn't asked her once to pretend to be her wife.

_So many things wouldn't have happened if she hadn't done that, Rizzoli. You can't entirely blame her for it either. It brought the best to you too. In its own bizarre way._

They owed it to Margot. They had lied to her so the least they could do was to accept to do something in exchange for her. They simply would have preferred to offer her a nice meal at some hype restaurant. Besides, they could hardly keep on telling her how bad of an idea it was considering they hadn't done any better themselves.

Margot 1 - 1 Jane and Maura.

"Dunno."

But Frost nonetheless turned his computer around to show her the montage.

She was in a hospital bed with a newborn in her arms. Margot had given them the original picture that had been taken the day of her birth. Frost had simply edited it to make sure it would be Jane who would be holding the baby and not Margot's real mother.

"Gosh, it's so wrong. And... Wait! I look like shit on this pic. And chubby! Look at me! It's like a freaking fat zombie version of me."

Frost giggled behind his mug of coffee. His eyes were glimmering in delight. He was definitely enjoying it a bit too much for Jane's taste.

"What were you expecting? You're supposed to have given birth. You can't look like you're ready to be on the cover of _Vogue_! So I made some changes."

A door got slammed on their left. Brief glance in the direction, end of the break. Jane straightened up on her seat – mimicking her colleague – and focused back on her computer screen. Cavanaugh was walking in her direction with the kind of look she didn't like much. What had she done again?

"Rizzoli."

_This is your lucky day. Seriously..._

"Yes, sir." Jane turned her head and politely smiled at her boss. It had been a quiet day so far and she had taken advantage of it to type some reports. "May I help you?"

Her unusual soft voice made Canavaugh frown. The effect of surprise didn't last though and soon enough he dropped a file on her desk. The papers landed loudly on top of it.

"Congratulations. You're on a brand new case, although "new" is all relative... The governor asked for the case to be reopened. I want your first conclusions on my desk by 5pm."

She barely had time to brush the file with her fingertips that Cavanaugh's voice resounded loudly again in her back.

"I hope your daughter won't be much of an obstacle to it."

Silence. Jane froze and closed her eyes. She was that close to grab the first red pen out of reach to circle the date on a calendar and official declare the day as the new Friday, 13th.

"What?!" Strangled voice, very high-pitched. Complete fail to ever sound casual again.

"I've just seen Dr. Isles. Very talkative. And anxious. What you do outside the BPD is none of my business of course yet I hope that this little scenario won't prevent you from giving your best on this case. The governor asked for you to be on it, I'm sure you don't wanna disappoint him. Do you?"

Jane shook her head but remained quiet. She didn't need to add anything anyway. Cavanaugh had been quite clear. She could already hear her colleagues' jokes. They would have a blast once the news had broken in the building.

What had she done to deserve this? Margot would pay for it. Pay for it...

_Oh yeah, she's gonna pay. She wants a mamma Rizzoli? Fine. She's so gonna get one. You'd better be ready for what's coming, Frenchie._

Jane's lips curled up into a smirk. One simply didn't mess with a Rizzoli without suffering from the side-effects of the whole thing.


	5. Sunday Lunch In Beacon Hill

_**Author's note: thank you all for 1. having survived to the website glitch 2. your reviews**_

**Chapter five: Sunday Lunch In Beacon Hill**

Knock on the door. A hand on Maddie's stomach to make sure that she wouldn't try to roll around, Maura cast a glance behind her and smiled as she spotted Margot by the door.

"Come in! I am changing her diaper." Back to the newborn and the incessant kisses on her chubby – warm – stomach.

Margot obliged and came to stand by Maura. She observed her in silence for a while, giggling when Maddie reacted to Maura's soft caresses and kisses. Sweet time.

If TJ looked like Lydia, Maddie definitely came from the Rizzoli side of the family. A brunette with big dark eyes and a strong temper in spite of her very young age. She was born in April. Angela used to say that she looked like Jane.

"You're doing great with her." It was the first time Margot saw Maura take care of a newborn. Once the surprise of the first minutes had subdued, she had started appreciating it. A lot. "You're great with babies... Don't you want your own one?"

Maura buttoned up the kimono top and took Maddie in her arms. She raised an eyebrow at Margot then leaned against the changing table before smirking.

"I thought I already had a daughter. Did you suddenly get adopted by someone else?"

Margot rolled her eyes. Two weeks had passed by since she had introduced Leo, since she had so blatantly lied. Two weeks during which they had worked on the story to make it sound believable enough.

Maura was extremely ashamed of it, though. It was completely immoral.

"C'mon, I'm being serious." Margot paused then motioned the room. "And how come you even have a changing table here?"

"Oh... I bought it when we started babysitting TJ. He was very - very - young when he spent his first night here, as a matter of fact."

Margot slowly nodded at the comment but something suddenly seemed to bother her. She frowned, tilted her head at Maura.

"Here? Jane didn't have her own place? She's TJ's aunt, you aren't. How come she babysat him with you at your place? I never looked after a cousin at a friend's place."

_Isn't that a fair remark, Isles... Good luck to get yourself out of it, now._

Said like that, Maura had to admit that what had seemed perfectly normal at the time looked rather odd now. She cleared her voice to win some time and began to caress Maddie's back very slowly. The baby was falling asleep.

"Well..." She bit her lower lip. How come she had never thought about it? "Jane used to spend a lot of time, here. It is bigger than her own appartment, and more central too. Besides, Angela was already in the guesthouse."

The silence that followed let Maura clearly understand that she hadn't convinced Margot much.

"You two were in love but were too blind to see it." Margot laughed and walked back to the door. It always amazed her how Jane and Maura didn't seem to notice the most evident things at times. "It's okay but that still doesn't answer my question about you having your very own child." She didn't wait for an answer though and walked back downstairs only to be stopped by an ecstatic Angela.

The matriarch cupped her face with her hands before hugging her as tightly as she could.

"You know you're a blessing, right?" Angela planted a kiss on Margot's forehead. "First it's thanks to you if my daughter got married and now I'm sure I'll owe you my grandkids. Your little scenario... It's surely going to make them talk about motherhood."

"You're okay with it?" A bit late to ask but Margot smiled of relief.

Within an hour now, Leo would arrive for a Sunday lunch with the family. It was a big day and everyone had been told about the context. Needless to say that Tommy and Frankie were really looking forward to witnessing the whole thing with their own eyes.

"Are you kidding?" Angela snorted. "I always knew that it'd take blackmail for my Janie to have kids."

...

A barbecue. Easy – simple – and friendly. Even healthy for Maura who had managed to impose her vegetable habits to everyone. The weather was perfect too. It was sunny without being too hot. In a word, the conditions were excellent for a Sunday brunch in the patio.

"You are majoring in journalism, right?" Jane grabbed her beer and took a sip of it. She certainly had not forgotten about her vendetta plan against Margot but she knew that she couldn't hit right away. Her patience would be rewarded soon. "That's kinda cool."

Leo nodded. He was talkative – all smile – and very polite. The perfect guy; smart and easy-going at the same time.

_There gotta be something though. Nobody's so perfect. He gotta be hiding something, Rizzoli._

"Exactly. I'm still divided about my future field of specialization but..." Another smile. "I would like to be a journalist. Actually, I could even go to France for a while and ask your ex-husband for some advices. He is a journalist too, right?"

"My what?" Jane swallowed hard and tried very hard to pretend that she hadn't seen all the faces turn towards her the second Leo had asked his question.

Her relatives were having a blast, Tommy the first one. He didn't stop making allusions that would owe him a few slaps on the head as soon as Leo would have left.

"Your ex-husband." The absence of reaction from Jane made Leo nervously laugh. "Margot's father? She told me about him when I asked her why she wasn't wearing your surname... She told me... Everything, how you divorced... And how she went to live with him in France when she was a teen, therefore her accent... All this."

"Oh." Jane slowly squinted her eyes at Margot. "That."

Sitting next to her, Maura poured herself another glass of wine and gulped it down right away. She needed to slow down on alcohol a bit but couldn't. The situation was stressing her out.

It wasn't as easy as it had been to pretend that she was married to Jane. Maybe her feelings had made the first lie a lot easier but she didn't have time for introspection right now anyway. This would wait.

"Ahem... Yeah, he is. That's true. He's a journalist. He lives... He lives in Bordeaux."

The perspective of seeing Leo in France didn't seem to please Margot either even if she doubted it would ever become concrete. She pouted and exchanged a knowing look with Maura.

"He works for a big newspaper there but you'd need to be fluent in French to go to France and get like an internship or something."

Leo shrugged.

"Speaking of which, I find it funny that you – Jane – don't speak French much while you married a French man at some point in your life when Maura is bilingual."

Maura burst out laughing and took everyone about. She had been too loud to not sound nervous. A quick glance at the bottle of rosé on the table and she suddenly turned livid. It was empty. Too bad. She would have to do without another glass for the moment.

"My mother is French and I went to a French- speaking boarding school from age ten to... Ahem... Until I graduated before college...?"

"And a few years later, she got to meet my chubby little Maggie!" Jane batted her eyes at Margot. The harmless war was officially declared. "She was such an adorable - chubby - baby, Leo. You should really – but reaaally – see the pics! I will show you her photo-album once the meal's over."

Humiliating a young adult was a piece of cake for Jane. Her mother hadn't stopped doing that with her when she was in her early twenties. As a matter of fact, she was still doing it.

Typical Rizzoli signature. It had to lay in the genes.

Margot had wanted her to be her mother? Fine. Her wish would come true and would soon turn in her worst nightmare.

Margot's eyes widened in horror but she didn't protest. She lightly laughed instead and rubbed her nape. She had been taken aback by Jane's reply while Frankie and Tommy were now sitting on the edge of their respective seats, thrilled to be front row to witness the whole scene.

"Oh look at that. We don't have rosé anymore." Maura went to stand up but Jane prevented her from doing so, a hand on her hip. Attempt to escape: failed. Thankfully being a socialite had its advantages and she jumped back easily. "So, Leo... Tell us a bit more about you..."

Jane would pay for that hand on her hip. Later on. Maura clenched her teeth. She would not let her wife get away from it without facing the consequences of her acts.

"Born and raised in Boston! My parents are teachers – second grade teachers – and I have a twin brother as well as two sisters."

"Oh... A big family... Such a beautiful thing." Angela smiled at Leo before turning to her daughter. "Don't you think so, Jane? Isn't it great to have many kids around?"

_And the Lack of Subtlety Award goes to... Your mother. Well done, Rizzoli. If you haven't got her message then you really need to see a neurologist._

Angela turned back to Leo.

"I still hope that she and Maura give Margot a little brother or a sister, you know. It's not too late yet. Actually, I don't know what they're waiting for. Yeah... It's not too late."

_But it is to run away from this nightmare. Rizzoli... You're screwed._


	6. The Game of Life

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews**_

**September**

**Chapter six: The Game of Life**

"Another child?" Jane growled. "This gotta be a joke! A freaking joke! I already have three." She reluctantly grabbed a token and nonetheless inserted it in her now full little car. "None of them will go to college, I tell you."

Maura giggled and patted her back to comfort her. As much as she enjoyed seeing Jane's exhuberant reactions, she didn't want to deal with anger once they were back home.

It was supposed to be a sweet evening and she wanted it to stay that way.

"It is just a game, Jane. Besides, there is nothing wrong with having a nice little family."

Snort. Maura's comforting words didn't find any echo in Jane. She hated losing and it was exactly what was happening right now. Losing to a game supposed to symbolize her life, besides. Tough.

"Easy for you to say that. You're a surgeon who makes zillions and peacefully drives alone in her Aston Martin!"

Maura looked down at the board. Fair point. But it wasn't her fault if Jane had got a minimum wage job and four children to raise. And a divorce to face. She made a face. It wasn't her wife's lucky day.

"Did you know the game was called "Fate" in French?" Frost waved his cell phone and pointed the Wikipedia page. "Maybe that's your fate, Jane. You're made to have four kids. Be ready, Dr. Isles!"

Frost burst out laughing and avoided just on time the peanuts Jane had thrown at him. They hadn't shared a board game evening at The Dirty Robber for a long while. Korsak had chosen the game – enthusiastic – but very soon it had turned into a nightmare for Jane's competitive spirit. She had way too many debts.

_And way too many kids, Rizzoli._

"Speaking of your descendants, how is Margot doing?" Korsak grabbed his beer and smiled at his colleague.

The question made Jane roll her eyes. Just as planned, everyone was making fun of them and their ridiculous little lie. She didn't know if she would last a year without punching anyone in the face. Why did she have to be the number one source of entertainment at the BPD?

"We helped her move on the campus last Saturday. Her classes start on Wednesday. She seems to be happy. We will have dinner with her on Thursday." Maura exchanged a knowing look with Jane as her cheeks slightly turned red. "The last two months have been quite intense at home so it is nice... You know, to find back the quietness we are used to."

That was one way to put it. They loved Margot to pieces but had surely celebrated the return of their couple to a complete freedom at home. They didn't have children – a few guests only, a few times a year – and Angela rarely showed up unannounced now that they were married.

Margot's leaving meant that they could share moments of intimacy outside of their bedroom again. And they both appreciated it.

"And how is the son-in-law?" Korsak exchanged a look with Frost.

One, two, three... Both men started giggling like school girls. Their reaction led Jane to wonder what they would do once it was over.

She had hoped that the frenzy of the beginning would fade away but it had been a month now and her colleagues still found it hilarious. The only conclusion she could come to was that they would never get tired of it. Sadly.

"He was off to Vermont last week so we didn't get to see him again after the barbecue at our place. But..." Barely containing the impatience rising in her voice, Jane straightened up and grabbed one of _The Game of Life_ token to roll it under her fingers. "I'm quite eager to see him again."

Her sudden change of behavior didn't pass unnoticed. If Maura looked blasé, Frost and Korsak found a renewal of interest in a conversation that had seemed uneventful so far.

"I know this smirk, Jane. What are you hiding from us?" Korsak squinted his eyes and shook his head.

Maura put down her glass of wine before loudly sighing. Jane had let her know about her plans but she wasn't certain herself that it was such a good idea. It called for troubles when they already had a lot thanks to Margot's incongruous lie.

"My wife over here is on a personal vendetta. She has decided to backfire and make of Margot's life a nightmare... A _à la Rizzoli_ nightmare."

"Which means...?"

Jane kissed Maura's temple in a gesture she hoped comforting and grinned at her colleagues. Apart from Maura, nobody knew yet about her plan. She needed a minimum of discretion to succeed.

"C'mon, you know my mother. Rizzoli mothers have it in their genes. They are born to push your buttons and piss you off like there's no tomorrow. I'm no exception here. Or better said, I won't be."

"And how do you plan on doing that?"

Jane dropped the token on the table and motioned _The Game of Life_ board at Maura as it was her turn to play.

"Well..." Jane stretched her arms, highy satisfied of the attention she was getting. People seemed to have assumed that she had accepted the lie without complaining but now that she did have a plan – a real one – they looked at her with an amused spark in the eyes and she was finally seen as it should be: a smart woman who didn't let others tell her what to do and when. "Isn't revenge a dish best served cold?" She bent over the table and smiled. "Here's my plan..."

...

She knew that Jane wouldn't ask her to be an active part of this childish vendetta because she had pleaded her wife to leave her out of it but – now she thought about it – Maura felt jealous. A bit.

Perhaps she could also enjoy fooling Margot. In her own way.

She walked to the bed – ready to go to sleep – and slid under the blanket next to her wife. Jane did not move an inch. She was intensely focused on a magazine; her fists clutched to it as if it were a matter of life and death.

"What are you reading?" Casual tone. Perfect. Maura rolled on her side and cuddled against Jane. She cast a glance at the publication. "I thought that you didn't like these magazines. And when did you buy _Cosmopolitan_?"

Jane wrinkled her nose but didn't bother to look at Maura. She mumbled a vague reply instead.

"I didn't buy it, I stole it."

"What?" Maura leaned up on her elbow and stared with perplexity at Jane. They had come back from The Dirty Robber an hour and a half ago – had shared a last drink in the living-room – and then had decided to go to bed. A very classic plan that didn't include the theft of any magazine. It came out of the blue. "Where did you get it?" Silence. "Jane!"

Before the urging tone, Jane put down the magazine and rolled her eyes. She looked at Maura.

"I found it at The Dirty Robber. It's just... A borrowing. I had to take it when I read the cover. It has to be a sign. Look at this." She closed the magazine and showed Maura the headlines.

The scientist moaned of despair.

"_Test: what kind of mother is your mother?_ Oh... Jane!" No anger whatsoever in her voice, though. Big fail. Maura bit her lower lip then shook her head. "You are getting obsessed." Pause. "So... What kind of results did you get?"

Jane's lips curled up in a smirk. She knew that it wouldn't take more than ten seconds to get Maura interested in the so-called psychological test in spite of her reluctance before her plan. That was how Maura worked. She knew it.

"If I had to answer the questions with honesty, I'd be the cool mom." Or at least she hoped so."But I'm going to make one big exception for my Frenchie." She sat up and settled the pillows in her back. "I'm divided. Which one is the best according to you: the hysterical freak mom or the bear mom?" Jane looked up and squinted her eyes, staring straight in front of her.

"You have lost your mind!" End of cuddles. Maura turned her back at her wife and closed her eyes to sleep. She counted until five in her head, pouted. "The bear mom." Pause. "Let me be the oversharing one."

The comment took Jane by surprise. She remained still for long seconds before finally turning her head towards Maura. She had huddled against herself, her blond curls falling on her shoulders in a perfect way.

_Only Maura can look perfect at any moment. Only Maura, Rizzoli. Your wife's perfect. So, so perfect._

Grinning like a fool before the implicit statement that her wife had just made, Jane put the magazine on her bedside table and turned the lights off. She bent over Maura and planted a warm kiss right at the corner of her lips.

She passed her arms around her frame and held her tightly.

"You know I love you, right?"

"Stupid question, Jane. Now let me sleep. I am tired."

Jane lightly laughed and planted another kiss, this time on the crook of Maura's neck. She then lay down and closed her eyes herself, succumbing to an immense satisfaction.

If her plan had seemed rather exciting until now, the perspective of having Maura joining it made it all suddenly better.

A lot better.

And exciting.


	7. Give a Kiss To Mamma

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews and messages, a pleasure to talk with you all.**_

**Chapter seven: Give A Kiss To Mamma**

Jane anxiously looked around and started biting her nails. Perhaps she should go back to her car and drive back to Boston.

Maura was home, after all. They could have been together right now but instead – and in a rather selfish way – she had made her way to Cambridge just to piss off Margot a bit more. Time to boost her evil plan.

_It's ridiculous, Rizzoli. Can't you just let someone else win? For once... Why do you have to do that, hmm? Why, exactly? Margot's lie is stupid but your reaction isn't any better. Give up your vendetta. It's pointless and childish._

But now that Maura had decided to play an active part in it, Jane was certain that – if she did give up – then her wife would be mad at her. And that was the last thing she wanted. She wasn't in the mood for any cold treatment. Nope... They were going through a sweet phase right now and she wanted to take the most out of it.

The door she had been staring at for the last ten minutes finally got opened. She straightened up and watched how students began to leave the room one after the other. Maybe Margot wasn't even there. College students – all of them – ended up skipping a class or two at some point.

"Oh. What are you doing here? Is everything okay? You're alone? Is Maura here?"

Theory: class skipped for Margot today.

Books in hands, Margot stopped as soon as she saw Jane. She blinked; surprised by her presence in the hallway. Until now, they only met on Thursday evening for a meal they shared together either in Cambridge or in Boston. It was the first time that Jane showed up unannounced.

"Ahem... Yeah, I'm fine."

Silence. Jane cast a glance at the brown paper bag that she was holding and hesitated. It was now or never. She still could stop it all now if she wanted to. However, she couldn't keep on staring at the bag for the rest of her life either.

She had to take a decision, and now.

"Wanna share a coffee to talk about Cocteau, Margot?" A blond girl walked out of the room only to stop next to the French student. She noticed Jane and politely nodded at her. "Hi..."

"Oh... Hey, that's my mother." Margot cleared her voice. "Mom, this is Ava. She works with Leo at the association. We happen to follow the same literature lecture."

Jane held back a snort. It was the first time that Margot actually called her like that. Or anyone else for that matter. Strangest sensation ever.

"Nice to meet you, Ava." Jane tightened her grip on the brown paper bag and forced a smile. "I just came to see my little Maggie. I miss her soooo much." Pinching Margot's cheek: done. "I brought you a snack, sweetiepie. Your favorite one."

Margot wrinkled her nose at the bag as if it were radioactive but finally accepted it.

"Are you living on the campus too, Ava? Margot's leaving home broke my heart... We won't touch her bedroom though. We keep the Justin Bieber posters and her collection of teddy bears." Back to Margot. "By the way, honey... Did you get the teddy bear I sent you this morning?"

Margot nodded and took a peanut butter sandwich out of the bag. She briefly observed it then bit in it. She didn't seem bothered by Jane's presence. Just surprised.

_The hell, Rizzoli? She can't be that good nor that much of a nerd to accept you here._

"It takes a lot of... Space though. It's a big one."

Jane nodded. Now all she had to do was thank Giovanni for giving it out to her. A giant – purple – teddy bear that she had spotted at his garage a couple of days before, identical to the one he had once given Maura. She had immediately assumed that it could fit in her evil plan against Margot.

"Oh... Now I think about it..." Ava grinned at Jane which made the detective immediately panic. It was not a reaction that she had anticipated from a student. "Thank you very much for accepting to take part in our October publication. Margot and Leo are right, you and your wife are exactly what we needed."

And that was the reason why Jane had become a detective. Her guts never fooled her. Nope, never. She had known that something wouldn't please her and she had been right. Sadly, she couldn't really run away right now.

_Alright, take a deep breath. Time to prove to the whole world that these yoga classes have paid off. A deep breath and a smile. A warm smile. Not the one of a psychopath._

She must have remained quiet for too long though because Ava suddenly looked at Margot for an explanation to Jane's absence of reaction.

"I thought you had told them about it... Haven't you?"

Margot nodded. She didn't look at ease, especially when she locked her eyes into Jane's to apologize in silence.

"Of course I have. Your monthly thematic about same-sex couples and their parental views. Yes, of course. They are delighted to take part in the interview and ahem... The photoshoot. Right, mom?"

Jane's smile froze. Alright, Margot had somehow apologized for it but still... Was Frenchie lacking talent that she seemed unable to avoid incongruous situations like this one?

"Yeah." Extremely low level on the Enthusiasm Scale. "We... Thrilled." Jane swallowed hard. She could already see Maura hyperventilate at the idea of having to talk about their so-called life as an eighteen-year-old girl's parents. It would be tough. "When does it take place, by the way? I totally forgot. You told me, Margot, but..."

"Next Sunday at your place. We always want to interview couples at their place. It makes it all a lot more realistic for our readers."

Cute.

Jane made a face and focused on the half-eaten sandwich Margot still had in hand. Yes, perhaps she shouldn't have come to Cambridge in the first place.

Not only had she got bad news about her fame-to-be as the center of attention to some article but she was now also dying to eat the fluffy snack that she couldn't steal from Margot's hands.

_You need to be better at this, Rizzoli. You really do. _

...

"I have brought you condoms: different sizes – latex and latex free – and of course... Lubricated ones." Maura spilled the contents of her bag on the table to show Margot the colorful boxes. She winked at the student's friends who were looking at the table in disbelief. "We are never too safe!"

"You want me to start an illegal market on the campus?" Margot laughed lightly and grabbed a box to check it.

Jane had showed up unannounced two days before and now it was Maura's turn. She wasn't stupid. She knew what they both were up to and it was fair; harmless. But she would need a lot more than that to feel ashamed. She peacefully put all the boxes back in the plastic bag and nodded at Maura.

"No... But I have gone to college as well and you know how prevention is important in the family. We have been talking to you about responsible sexual intercourse way before you were active."

"Sure. I'm not half-French by accident." Margot laughed which tended to make her friends relax a bit. "It's cultural, guys. Although if one of you runs out of these, you know where to ask now."

The little group nodded, a bit embarrassed.

"So you're... You're a medical examiner, right? That's interesting."

"Actually, Maura is the chief medical examiner of Massachusetts." Chin up. Margot looked at her friends with an obvious pride. "She's extremely talented and respected in her field."

The compliment made Maura blush.

"You call your mother by her name? Sorry, I've always wondered how same-sex couples chose this kind of things. Like... Is it mom and mommy or ma' or...?"

Maura stared at her tea thinking about how her chances to talk about her job instead of playing on words to avoid a lie had just flown out the window. She hadn't hesitated much before taking a day off to spend it in Cambridge with Margot. Especially after Jane's relative fiasco with the teddy bear and the snack.

As a matter of fact, she had been rather excited to finally give it a try to her role as an oversharing mother.

"Well, she's my second mother that's for sure but... Yeah, I don't know. I've always called her by her name and I don't think she takes it bad. I mean, do you?" Margot looked at her with an impressive – almost frightening – serenity.

But then Leo was sitting next to her. She didn't have much of a choice.

"I am perfectly fine with Margot calling me by my name, indeed. I am not her mother but I surely consider her as..." Maura raised a hand, made a vague gesture. She then patted the plastic bag. "I want her safe and healthy too." She turned to Leo and smiled at him. "Understood?"

The moment she felt Margot get a bit tense, Maura knew that she had just scored. Finally. Now all she wanted was to drive back to Boston and open a bottle of Champagne to celebrate it with Jane.

She wasn't the bad actress she had once assumed to be. It was comforting.

"Why don't you share with us some of your medical examiner stories? I'm sure everyone would love to hear them."

_Trying to switch to another topic, Margot? How come? Feeling uncomfortable? Well done, Isles. You're the best._


	8. The Beacon Hill Couple

_**Author's note: thank you very much for the reviews, messages and nominations for the Fanfic Awards; the last point was completely unexpected.**_

**Chapter eight: The Beacon Hill Couple**

"How can someone be scared of that? It's an old movie, the special effects are lame!"

Maura didn't give importance to the remark – even less to the snort that followed it – and remained focused on the television screen. She plunged a hand in the salad bowl that she had squeezed in on the couch between her and Jane and grabbed some popcorn.

_Will you stop gorging yourself on junk food, Isles? What is your goal, exactly? Put on 20lbs before Christmas?_

Angry with herself, she began to slowly chew the popcorn and tried to ignore the bitter taste her conscience had added to it. Yes, she was putting on weight. It was true.

_Hopefully this phase will stop soon. You cannot go on like this forever._

"People'd be so surprised if they knew you like the Bela Lugosi movies. You don't fit the genre, it's weird. Or not. Wait..." Jane made a face as if suddenly bothered by her own comment. "Maybe... Maybe not. You cut open dead people, after all. It's quite gore too."

Maura rolled her eyes but didn't say a word. She grabbed a bottle of beer and held it out to Jane so she could finally watch the movie in peace.

_The Black Cat, _by E.G. Ulmer. A 1934 masterpiece for the B movie it was. And she knew that it was scaring. That was even the exact reason why Jane did not stop talking. Basic human reaction. She simply would never admit it.

"Look at this, it's comple-... Haaaaaa!" Jane jumped with surprise and hit the salad bowl with her arm. Popcorn flew all around. "The hell was that?" She sat up and pulled on the blanket Maura had brought down from their bedroom to settle in each other's arms on the couch. "Oh boy."

Jo Friday poked her head – stared at her owner as if she had lost her mind – then finally jumped off the couch to choose an armchair instead. Safer option. Nobody would jump nor sream from there.

"Jane! Look what you have done..." Maura pouted. "There is popcorn everywhere, now."

Movie: on pause. Lights: on. Maura sat up too and looked at the damage all around. Popcorn was now floating in her glass of wine; the rest was spilled all over the couch – the floor – and the table. Talkative Jane had been replaced by quiet Jane, the evil twin who was aware of her part of responsibility in this mess.

Maura turned her head around to look at her wife. She smirked; hands on her hips. Eyeroll. The classic Maura combo when she was about to use sarcasm.

"Good thing the movie wasn't scary enough for you... I wonder how you would have reacted if it had frightened you."

Jane pursed her lips – shrugged – and stood up before walking to the kitchen. Needless to say that she now had to clean it up.

"Whatever." Inaudible whisper.

Or not.

"I heard you!"

...

Maura cast a very last look at her reflection in the mirror and closed her eyes. Deep breath. Another one. One – two – three. She had always known that her relaxation classes would pay off one day. It was a no-brainer.

Now she just had to prove it to Jane.

_Okay, let's do this._

She turned around and walked back into the living-room. Jane was in full chat with Ava. Alex was testing the light for the photoshoot like the professional he was not. Maura nervously smiled at him as they exchanged an accidental look.

She hadn't expected something like that.

When Jane had let her know that Margot had booked them an interview to talk about their couple and their so-called life as parents for an LGBT publication, Maura had simply assumed that it would be a very random little newspaper of some sort.

Sadly it wasn't.

The publication could be found pretty much everywhere in the city, starting with gay bars and local associations. Oh, and at the BPD since it had decided to develop a gay friendly image for the past year.

Way to change her opinion on how the media used to follow her a bit too much as the chief medical examiner of the state. At least by then, none of the journalists wrote something about her personal – and fake – life.

"Ok. We're gonna start with the interview and then we'll do the pics. Don't pay attention to Alex... He may take a few shots while we're talking." Ava smiled and motioned Maura the couch so she could sit next to Jane. "Are we ready?"

Maura sat next to Jane and grabbed her hand for support. She was ready. She and Jane had worked on it for the last three days and she knew what she had to say. Besides, she had filled online Ava's questionnaire so many points had already been answered.

"Good." Warm smile. "So, first of all... How did the two of you meet?"

Easy one. As planned, Jane let Maura answer. She could explain it without lying nor making up any detail whatsoever. This question belonged to a zero danger category.

"At _The One Division Cafe_ that is located in the same building as the BPD. I... Ahem..." Maura's cheeks succumbed to a delicate shade of pink. "I mistook her for a prostitute." Nervous laugh.

Silence.

Ava raised an eyebrow in disbelief and barely hid a mock of incomprehension. Were Jane and Maura making fun of her?

"I beg your pardon...?"

Jane and Maura laughed. They loved people's reaction before their story. It was so expected. The scientist folded her legs under herself – relaxing a bit – and cast a very brief glance at Alex who was taking a few shots.

"Jane was going as an undercover which was a piece of information I hadn't been given at the time. The rest... The rest is relatively classic. We began to cross each other a lot more in the building then once she made it to the homicide unit, we got to work together and – thus – spend a lot of time together."

Ava nodded.

She still looked a bit taken aback but then she could hardly say that Jane and Maura were a very random couple; even less random parents. She had seen them on the campus site with Margot. They were a bit excentrical. Between Jane's overprotectiveness and Maura's obsession for safe sex, she didn't know what to think about them.

"Okay... And did Jane tell you right away that she had a daughter?"

Maura felt her wife tighten her grip on her hand.

Candie time.

She bent over the coffee table and picked one of the chocolates they had previously offered Ava and Alex then took her time to unfold it.

"As much as I don't work for the BPD, my office happens to be in the same building so there are some things one can hardly ignore... Children being one of them. Christmas, family days... We do organize a lot of events that require the presence of... Ahem... Of family members."

"I never hid the fact I had a kid. Why would I? Have you seen Margot? Yes – I know – when she was a child she was a bit strange... I mean, do you know many children who are convinced to be E.T.?" Pause. Satisfied nod before Ava's lack of reaction. "Exactly. But she's... She makes me so proud... That little odd one is a sweetheart." And grin.

There was no way Jane would not use this so-called interview to win another battle in the war that opposed her to Margot.

However, she hadn't assumed that Maura would give it a try as well. It was a rather stressing situation for her and she first and foremost needed to focus on her choice of words to not break into hives.

But against all expectations, Jane felt how her wife started sitting closer to her and soon let her hand play with her hair as she often did when they shared a bath together. Alex and Ava ignored such detail – and it was all fine – but the fact Maura dared to do it proved that she was relaxed enough and in control.

"This is very true. Margot is an adorable young adult. We missed her a lot when she went back to France but now that she is in Boston again, there is not a single day that passes by within me to check whether she is fine." Maura bent over the table and locked her eyes in her interlocutor's. She winked. "I follow every single one of her moves." Pause. Back to Jane. "Will you bring me a couple of waffles, sweetheart? You know, the ones you baked this morning."

Jane repressed the desire to make a comment about the chocolate Maura had just eaten – it was not the best moment to piss her off – and obliged. As a matter of fact, she had baked a ton of cakes and cookies to keep alive what she now called the MRS, aka Mamma Rizzoli Spirit; a simple principle based on stuffing the guests as if they hadn't eaten for the last five years.

Ava took advantage of the small break to cast a glance at the room. She gave Maura an appreciative nod.

"It's a beautiful house you have."

"Thank you! I have always loved Beacon Hill so when this house went on the market, I jumped on the occasion. I am glad to call it home for Jane and I." A peaceful smile lit up Maura's features.

How good it felt to embrace a moment of sincerity among all these lies.

Jane brought back the waffles and put the plate down on the coffee table. She offered one to Ava – then to Alex – and settled back in Maura's arms.

Maybe Margot wasn't their daughter – maybe pretending the opposite was wrong – but Jane still thought that they had deserved their status as "couple of the month" because their feelings were true and their story as perfect as one could hope for.


	9. A Very Balanced Couple

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews and suggestions**_

**October**

**Chapter nine: A Very Balanced Couple**

She had waited for long minutes before opening it, just in case Jane would have come back in the most unexpected way because she would have forgotten something. It was not the first time that she had a look at it but until now it had only happened with many people around, a thousand laugh and jokes.

This time she was alone and didn't have to focus on the funny part of it. Instead, she could take all her time and pay attention to the details; to a general view of something that hadn't really happened.

It was the oddest feeling. She was going through the photo-album as if she were witnessing a parallel life to the one they were leading: Jane holding a baby in her arms, the two of them helping a toddler walk on a beach in the sunset, birthday cakes and vacations out of Boston. A glimpse of the life of a family that looked like hers but wasn't.

"Barry did a good job, right?"

Angela's voice rose in her back. Jane's mother walked towards the couch where Maura was sitting and smiled before the photo-album full of montages opened on her daughter-in-law's lap.

Maura nodded and sighed before one of the pictures: she was holding a tiny newborn in her arms, grinning like a fool at the photographer. The original shot existed. And it was TJ whom she had held against her. She might have been looking at a montage, her very own reaction that day hadn't been a lie. She was glowing and thrilled.

"Hmm. Jane doesn't like them, though. She says that she either looks chubby or has the same haircut as in _Charlie's Angels_." Shrug. "I don't know... I find them sweet." Sweet but fake.

"Jane always has something to complain about."

The remark made Maura laugh lightly.

Someone had finally ended up walking in on her but against all expectations, she was okay with it. She loved Angela and appreciated her presence in her life. She trusted her. The matriach was a bit intrusive at times but Maura didn't mind. It wasn't something she had experienced with her very own family. At least she now had the sensation to fit in a bit more.

And it was comforting.

Besides, she knew that Angela would not judge her in a bad way for fantasizing a bit before all these pictures. It was a very unusual situation, after all: very singular. Frost had spent a lot of time creating this photo-album just in case Leo asked to see a few pictures.

"Have you ever really talked about maternity?" The question hit the air in a timid murmur. Angela sat on the couch and passed a hand on one of the pictures. "You and Jane, I mean."

Maura hesitated, barely whispered a semblance of answer.

"No."

What for, anyway? They were both over forty years old and had demanding jobs. They had really drawn a line under the idea of a potential pregnancy. Implicitly. They could think about adoption but it had barely crossed her mind.

Maybe they were simply not made to be mothers. They welcomed foreign students twice a year anyway; and there was Margot too. All these adolescents were their children. Somehow.

"Perhaps you should, even if it's to come to the conclusion you don't want any. It's an important conversation to have for your couple, Maura. You need to make things clear."

Maura pursed her lips. She didn't say a word. Angela was right but she didn't see how she and Jane could make anything clear from something that appeared so blatantly blurry.

...

"You don't wear makeup, do you?"

Margot shook her head but nonetheless let Maura applied lipstick on her lips. She checked the result in a large mirror - squinted her eyes at it - then wrinkled her nose in disapproval.

"It's not me!" She grabbed a tissue and proceeded to take the makeup off right away. "I'm okay with a bit of mascara but not... Not lipstick. I don't like the sensation. Nah, it's not for me."

"No problem!" Just as she was applying a brand new Chanel color on her very own lips, Maura felt a pair of arms slide around her frame. A kiss in the crook of her neck. The unexpected touch made her jump with surprise. "Jane!"

Uh oh.

_Well done, Rizzoli. The wife throwing a scene in three, two, one..._

Just as expected, Maura turned around to frown at Jane but something made the Italian chuckle right away.

"What's with the tribal makeup, Maur'? Are you leaving to live with the Masai tribe or something?" She pointed Maura's face where a huge red line of lipstick went from the corner of her lips to the cheek.

"You scared me... Idiot!" Maura gently snapped her wife's forearm and accepted the tissue Margot held out to her. "Have you found what you were looking for, anyway?" Jane nodded. "Good. Then let's go."

It didn't happen very often but Maura wasn't in the mood to go shopping. She was spending a whole day with Jane and Margot in Provincetown and preferred to enjoy their presence instead of walking from one store to another. As a matter of fact, it was Jane who had insisted on stopping by the store. Upside down situation.

"What do you wanna do, Frenchie?" Shopping bag in hand, Jane walked out on the street and put a hand in front of her eyes to protect herself from the sun. "There's a nice coffee store a bit further on the left. How about a drink?" Nod. "So here we go, ladies."

"What did you buy?" Maura tried to have a look at the bag but Jane immediately prevented her from doing so which only managed to make her laugh. "Why won't you show me what it is?"

Jane had remained vague about the nature of her purchase, needless to say that such unusual behavior had piqued Maura's curiosity. Her birthday wasn't coming any time soon and Jane wasn't particularly fond of comestics. Yet she really had insisted on stopping by the small store to buy something there.

"Oh, come on! Show me..." Maura burst out laughing and tried to have a look at it again. In vain. "What are you hiding from me?"

"Uh oh."

Teasing: on pause. Silence.

"Why are you two staring at me like that?" Margot laughed and raised her hands as if to prove her innocence. "I haven't done anything!"

"Why the 'uh oh', then?" Jane grabbed Maura's hand and waited for the student's explanation.

Margot shrugged. Hands back in the pockets of her jacket. The wind was blowing hard in spite of the bright sun and the temperatures were chilly. She huddled up against herself then pushed away from her face a strand of hair.

"I don't know... Isn't it a bad thing to hide stuff from your significant one? I mean, do you have... Like... Secrets that you never told each other?"

The question took them completely aback. Their relation had always been very symbiotic. It hadn't taken them long to learn pretty much everything from each other. They didn't have any taboo either.

Or not really.

The only omission had probably been the one about their past relationships. Before Margot making it into their life, none of them had opened up about the fact they had both dated women in the past.

"No, Miss-I-pretend-my-parents-are-a-same-sex-couple." Jane vehemently shook her head at the yound student then grabbed Maura by the waist to hold her tightly against her. "We're honest with each other... And maybe you should be too even if I am really looking forward to seeing Leo's face when he learns you've only tried to impress him with your lie."

For some reason, Jane's last remark about their couple pushed Maura to think about Angela and the words she had had about the photo-album; about maternity. It wasn't taboo but they nonetheless did their best to avoid the subject.

That was a fact that she couldn't deny.

"We are a very happy and balanced married couple, Margot. We lead a peaceful life made of movie nights – weekend getaways – and... I don't know, walks through the city. We don't have secrets for each other. A normal couple, that is what we..." Maura didn't have a chance to finish her sentence.

"And a famous one, should I add..." Margot ran to a small stand by the door of a store to grab a magazine. She waved it at Jane and Maura. "Look at the two of you! You're LGBT stars, now."

Jane swallowed hard. She certainly hadn't forgotten Ava's magazine nor the interview they had taken part in. How could she? She had spent most of it trying desperately to embarrass Margot one way or another. The moment she had showed them pictures of a chubby naked baby remained in her top five.

"I thought we find it in Boston only." Shaking tone of voice reflecting a sudden lack of joy and latent panic: check.

Margot shrugged and leafed through it before giving it to Maura. She looked amused, her eyes sparkling with delight. If she hadn't been the source of all of this, Maura would have said that Margot looked extremely pretty but looks weren't her priority right now.

She feverishly leafed through it then froze as she found the piece of information she was looking for.

"It seems like you can actually find it anywhere in Massachusetts, Jane... This is what it says on the last page." Maura closed her eyes and took a deep breath as she felt her wife's hand freeze on her waist.

"Run, Margot." Jane's hoarse voice resounded low; deprived of any feeling. "Run away before I catch you back."

Attempt to scare Margot: failed. Instead, the girl burst out laughing and shook her head in disbelief. She planted a kiss on Jane's cheek and repeated the gesture with Maura.

"You're the best mommies a daughter could dream of having even if you try to embarrass me as soon as you can. And, you know..." She shrugged and resumed her walking. "You'd enjoy this parallel life while it lasts. I'm sure you'll miss it big time once I'm back to France."

Snort.

Although Jane and Maura had to admit that she was probably right.


	10. In The Motherhood

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews - private messages - and suggestion.**_

**Chapter ten: In The Motherhood**

Jane adjusted her shirt a very last time - pulling on it to create a rather impressive lowcut thanks to the push-up bra she was wearing - then stepped out of the car. A gust of wind raised her mini-skirt just as she waited for Maura to join her a bit further on the sidewalk. She laughed.

"I can't believe we're about to do that."

Maura cast a glance at her very own attire and held back a chuckle. It wasn't how she had imagined her first Halloween party to go. Not at all.

"Perhaps we should renounce. Don't you think we're going too far, this time? I know that I often complain about the lack of time my parents spent with me but the truth is..." She looked at Jane's outfit then shrugged. "I would have been very embarrassed if what we are about to do had happened to me."

Gasp.

"Oh please, don't tell me that now we're dressed up and all! You're supposed to support me, Maura." Uncertain look at her outfit. "What am I gonna do with this stethoscope, besides?" Pause. "Nah. Never mind. Don't go kinky now."

"You want my cat ears headband instead?" Silence. "I knew it." Maura crossed the street. She had spent the last hour listening to Jane complain about her outfit and now was on the verge of throwing a huge fit if her wife kept on making grumpy remarks. She stopped by the door. "The music is loud... We are going to get into trouble. And what about the decibels? Don't they know how dangerous it is?"

Jane snorted. She was more concerned by the possibility of someone walking in on them than by a police car stopping by because they would have got a called from neighbors; neighbors who did know that a Halloween party was held at their house anyway. The whole street knew about it.

When Margot had asked them whether she could organize a little party at their place, they had said yes immediately. They trusted her, anyway. Then – very soon – Maura had seen in the event a great occasion to fulfill their desire of a little vendetta.

It had been a while since the last time they had put their 'mother plan' into action. They could not do something every time they saw Margot as it wouldn't be realistic. Besides, they had been working a lot lately and hadn't had a chance to really focus on it.

There was no winner in the end, anyway. It was just an attempt to spice up a situation they hadn't asked for in the first place. And it worked.

"You know..." Jane's fingertip slid along Maura's hip. Sexy voice: on. "You're a very good-looking Catwoman. This suit looks good on you."

A shy smile lit up Maura's face. If it weren't for the headband, she had to recognize that she liked the costume herself. Her smile melted into a smirk.

"I didn't know that you had a thing for leather."

"I didn't know it either." Jane caught her reflection in a window. She had gone a bit heavy on the fake blood; her chest was literally covered with it. "Do you like my costume too?"

"It is a very random one."

Jane froze. Maura had answered in a heartbeat. She hadn't hesitated a second.

_You can always count on your wife to compliment you, Rizzoli. She's a joy of every moment._

"Hide your enthusiasm...?" Feeling a surge of sarcasm run through her veins, Jane pursed her lips and nervously pulled on her skirt. It was way too short for her own taste. "Your honesty will kill you one day, Maura Dorthea Isles."

"Aw... This isn't what I meant. Of course, you are sexy. But then you are sexy wearing anything. It is... It is just that – as a medical doctor – I am used to seeing nurses and I can hardly dissociate it from a professional angle. I am sorry."

The expression on Jane's face made it clear that Maura's attempt to comfort her had miserably failed.

"So... In a word... I'm turning you off, right now." Sarcastic nod. "Awesome. Really." Maura tried to touch her but Jane pushed her hand away. "No, no. That's fine. I got the message. Thanks." Jane's susceptibility: at its highest level. "And what are you..."

Maura passed a hand under her wife's skirt and squeezed her buttocks with authority. Without any warning. Right in the middle of the street. She added a mischievous wink to the whole.

"I promise you that once we are done dancing among Margot's friends, I will show you how much I like seeing you dressed as a nurse."

The comment - whispered in a sultry voice - got the expected effect. Jane got tense - swallowed hard - but immediately stopped complaining. Maura bit the inside of her cheek to hold back a smile. The seduction game was almost too easy, at times.

...

Jane and Maura walked into the house as discreetly as they could only to realize that the party was in full swing.

The living-room had been transformed in a haunted house for the occasion. Some students were dancing around; others were chatting in corners, a drink in hand. Classic scene of a Halloween party. Nothing to worry about.

Nobody noticed them at first so they walked hand in hand to the middle of the improvised dancefloor to catch the guests' attention. Some suggestive moves should do the trick. It wasn't very complicated. It is Maura who spotted Margot by the kitchen counter. She was dressed up as Cleopatra; in full talk with a couple of guys.

Maura made eye-contact with her and waved a hand, the other one suggestively caressing Jane's thigh as they both moved to the pace of a song she had never heard before. She bent over and whispered to her wife's ear.

"She saw us."

Jane took it as a code to capture Maura's lips in a long – deep – kiss. One that certainly didn't pass unnoticed. A round of applause rose above the electro music and made them smile. Nobody knew who they were. Nobody but Ava.

"Jeez, get a room!" The student froze as she realized whom she was talking to. "Oh my god, I'm sorry... Maura? Jane?" Dressed as a cowgirl, she stared at Jane and Maura in disbelief. She was mortified "What... I mean... You're here? Oh."

"Yeah we came back early from the BPD party so we thought... Hey, why not makin' it last a bit?" Jane winked at Ava and checked out her attire. "Nice costume! You parked your horse on the street?"

_Where's your cell phone when you need it, Rizzoli? Ava's face is priceless. That deserves a pic, dammit._

"Well, well, well... I see we have some visit." Margot grabbed Jane and Maura by the arm to make them turn around. Vain attempt to have intimacy in the middle of the party. She smirked. "Alright. You definitely win, tonight."

The three of them laughed. Maybe that was the reason why none of them had given up yet on the whole lie vs vendetta thing. They didn't take it badly. On the contrary. They all found it rather entertaining. Harmless. They knew that none of them would cross implicit limits and Margot was old enough to face the consequences of her acts.

Jane and Maura had been cleared on it.

"Thank you..." Maura took off her headband and made a bow. She cast a glance at the room. "Isn't Leo here?"

"We were running out of..." Margot frowned and looked for her words. "That fake blood thing... So he went to buy some more with a few friends." Someone called her name a bit further. She nodded at the girl but focused back on Maura and Jane. "You can stay, if you want. I mean, of course you can. It's your house!" She laughed. "You're free to do everything you want. I don't mind if you want to dance and all. It's okay. You're cool."

"Thanks. I'll just grab one of these alcohol free beers I see on the table out there – they are alcohol free, right? - and complain how tasteless it is and how glad I am to be old enough to legally drink."

Jane's comment made Margot laugh. As the girl by the patio door called her name for a second time, she finally excused herself and left Jane and Maura alone.

"Do you really want to stay here?"

Jane shook her head - grabbed her wife by the waist - and motioned her the stairs.

"Not really. Give me five minutes and I'll be up there in our room with a bottle of wine. I'm more in the mood for a long bath than a night of dancing among people who don't know there was a real life before the invention of the Internet."

Maura smiled at her – nodded – then began to walk towards the stairs. She had just made it to the lobby when the Addams Family door bell set up for the occasion rang. She stopped, hesitated.

Margot was on the opposite side of the floor and hadn't heard it.

_It must be Leo and his friends. They are probably back from the store and don't have the key to come in, Isles. Go open. It is your house, isn't it?_

She dropped the cat ears headband on the console table – gave a bit of volume to her hair – then opened the door.

And froze. For too long.

"Bonsoir...?" Before Maura's lack of reaction, Constance lightly laughed and checked her daughter from head to toe. A veil of confusion deepened her features. "Am I interrupting a libertinage evening? I didn't know this was your thing. You must have got that from your aunt Leonie."

Maura blinked.

Now that was unexpected.


	11. What Constance Has To Say

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews and messages, it's a pleasure to read and answer them.**_

**November**

**Chapter eleven: What Constance Has To Say**

"Mornin'..."

Jane's voice made her smile, instinctive reaction from her body Maura enjoyed more than anything. She turned around – coffee pot in hand – but raised an eyebrow with surprise as she came to face a still half-asleep Jane who wasn't wearing many clothes.

"Good morning." She marked a pause, just the required time for a smirk to play on her lips. "Since when do you walk in the kitchen half-naked?"

Jane frowned - let Maura plant a soft kiss on her lips - and blinked as if she hadn't understood the question. Very slowly, she looked down at her own body and yawned.

"I'm wearing a tank top and a pair of boxers. I'm dressed." She shrugged. "Since when this kind of outfit sounds like an issue to you? You seemed pretty ok with it last night." Or at least ok enough to go and take it off from Jane. "What gotta be covered is covered, no?" Half-convinced nod from Maura. "See. No big deal."

"Well, we currently have two guests in the house: Margot and my mother who – in case you forgot – arrived last night. Unannounced. One of them could walk in on you any time. Not just Bass or Jo Friday."

And they both knew that it wasn't something Jane was very fond of. She only felt comfortable with her body and the idea of being nude with Maura. For anyone else, she had to be fully clothed.

"Margot partied until the wee hours so she won't get up before 4pm - like the student she is - and your mother is jet lagged so I don't think she's gonna be up anytime soon." Without any warning, Jane took off her tank top, repeated the gesture with her boxers. "There we are. Now I am naked... In my house. And I can go naked all around if I want to."

The moment she started making some sort of dance moves in front of Maura, the medical examiner burst out laughing. Jane had certainly changed since they had got married. This would have surely not happened way back then.

"You are in a good mood, aren't you?" Maura bit her lower lip to hold back a chuckle. The scene was hilarious. "I wasn't challenging you, Jane."

"I'm naked! I'm naked! Naaaaked... N.A.K.E.D... Naked!"

"Good mor-... Oh my God, I am sorry." Constance immediately turned around and began to leave again; a hand in the air to apologize.

Silence.

"Fuck!" Succumbing to a very strong panic, Jane looked from right to left and ran to the first door her eyes landed on. She opened it and locked herself in the small room. "Shit."

Soft knock on the door; stifled giggles.

"Why did go into the pantry, Jane?"

"To admire the flour."

Not so honest answer but Maura didn't insist. She cleared her voice, trying desperately to remain serious.

"Wouldn't you like to have your clothes to do so? Here they are..."

The door opened ajar after a moment of hesitation. Jane's hand appeared. She grabbed the clothes and closed back right away.

"You are in the dark, Jane. Why don't you turn the light on?"

Growl.

"Leave me alone, Maura!"

Good mood: over.

...

Constance put down her cup of tea and looked by the window at the busy street. This cafe seemed to have turned into a ritual of some sort. She came back to it year after year with Maura whenever she was in Boston.

It hadn't really crossed her mind until now but she actually loved the idea of seeing it as a point of reference in her relation to her daughter because they didn't have any and it weighed a lot, bitterly. She hadn't been a good mother.

And she highly regretted it.

"What's wrong?"

The question took Maura completely aback. She had just finished explaining her mother Margot's incongruous lie and how she and Jane had accepted to play along. Constance had looked amused – just as she had been the first time around – so her question didn't make a lot of sense right now.

"What do you mean?"

Constance didn't look at her in disapproval but the way she wrinkled her nose resulted enough to let Maura nonetheless understand that she hadn't appreciated her answering to her question by another one. She didn't have much patience.

"You have put on weight and have literally thrown yourself on the cookies as soon as we sat here. If I didn't know that you have a tendency to hide behind food when you are stressed out or... If I ignored the fact that you are married to a woman, I would assume that you are a few weeks pregnant. So I ask: what are you stressing about?"

Maura pursed her lips and suddenly avoided her mother's gaze. She grabbed her cup of tea and took a sip, more to win some time than because she would have been thirsty. Nothing was wrong, right?

Absolutely nothing.

Her mother was seeing things that didn't exist. She had always had a very creative mind. She was an artist for a reason, after all.

_This is exactly what it is, Isles. Don't be worried. It is extrapolation, nothing else._

"Pregnancy..." Constance squinted her eyes and focused on what she had just said. She froze then looked back at her daughter. "This is your problem, isn't it? Children. Maternity. This is why you are stressed and keep on eating these thin mint things."

"No!" Even her very own tone of voice betrayed her. Feeling defeated, Maura shrugged and bit her lower lip out of nervousness. "Not really..."

"Oh, sweetheart... Maura." Constance would never say it but she had actually hesitated before bringing her hand to her daughter's cheek to sweetly caress it. It was an unusual gesture between them and maybe it didn't fit right now. "Why do you have this tendency to keep all this inside? You know that it isn't good. You know that it only does harm to you. What is going on?"

"I don't know." Her high-pitched voice only manage to highlight her stress. She shook her head immediately to apologize for it. "This is the problem: I don't know."

Her lack of precision made Constance frown. She did look concerned, a lot. Her cell phone vibrated but she didn't even have a look at it. She remained focused on Maura instead.

"You don't know what?"

"All this!" Maura rolled her eyes and made a vague gesture of the hand. She swallowed hard. "If I want to have children or if I don't want to have any... I don't know. I don't know what I want. I don't know what Jane wants... I am unable to come to any conclusion regarding it."

"Would you like some more cookies?"

The waitress' intrusion sounded awfully brutal but Constance's reaction to it probably even more. The artist looked up at the employee as if she had lost her mind.

"Don't you think she had enough already?"

The snappy – extremely harsh – question made Maura blush. She looked down at the table and tried to focus on a precise point. Her spoon. A drop of tea had dried on it.

The waitress mumbled a semblance of apologies and left.

"Oh, that's fine..." Constance rolled her eyes, well aware of her daughter's reaction. She cast a look at the waitress and shrugged. "I will give her a big tip." She angrily grabbed her tea cup and took a deep breath to calm down a bit. Smooth voice. "What does Jane think about it?"

Maura almost winced in pain. She knew that the moment she let her mother know that they hadn't really talked about it, she would get sharp feedbacks. And maybe it was deserved. Probably.

Surely.

"I don't know." She paused and cleared her voice. "It isn't a topic we discuss a lot, as a matter of fact."

"Then it has to change. And as soon as possible. I understand better now why you work with dead people. Really. Communication isn't your thing and it would be alright if you weren't married but you are and you can't adopt this attitude. The silence over it is eating you up, Maura. This isn't good at all and I refuse to see you unhappy."

"Did you talk about it yourself? Did you conclude one day that you wouldn't have children? I know that you didn't plan to have any, that I wasn't planned to make it into your life. Is it something you – you and dad – had made clear?"

Maura's urging tone of voice took both of them aback. It was the first time that she actually asked such a thing, with such an authoritative tone. Her questions were fair. She knew that her mother – she knew it for a fact – wasn't sterile. Yet she had never had children nor felt the desire to give her another sibling.

Conscious of the fact that her reply would imply many things, Constance took her time and tried to choose the words that would fit the best; the ones that wouldn't hurt.

"Yes." She swallowed hard. "We had taken the decision to not have children."

Maura coldly nodded.

"I see." Neutral voice, deprived of any feeling.

"And this is why I am so glad that you made it unexpectedly into our lives. I would have missed so many things if you hadn't been my daughter, Maura. Your adoption is the best decision we have made so far. The one I know that I will never be able to regret because you mean so much to us..." A latent pain began to distort Constance's face as she desperately tried to fight against tears. She sighed. Loudly. "And it hurts to know that you probably don't realize that."


	12. Thanksgiving And Fluorescent Lipsticks

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all the reviews and messages!**_

**Chapter twelve: Thanksgiving And Fluorescent Lipsticks**

Maura smiled, which immediately made Maddie open her big dark eyes wide and kick the air with her feet. The baby stretched an arm and tried to grab a curl of blond hair.

Success.

She pulled on it with a strength that made Maura wince in pain. The scientist instinctively went for her hair and pulled back. In vain. Maddie was stronger than she was at this game.

_Don't panic now, Isles. Don't even think you are allowed to panic. This won't happen. You cannot lose a very basic little battle against a seven-month-old baby. This would be ridiculous._

"Do you need some help?"

Someone giggled in her back. She turned around and politely smiled at a very amused Margot while a mortified Lydia rushed to her daughter. She caressed the back of Maddie's hand, planted a kiss on top of her head. Magic. The baby opened her fist and let go of Maura's hair.

"I'm sorry, Maura. She does that to me all the time. It's TJ who found the trick. She likes caresses..." Lydia offered an apologetic smile to her sister-in-law and took Maddie in her arms. "They always try to catch everything at this age."

Maura nodded and felt stupid. She had failed. Lydia had solved the issue right away when she had almost panicked. It was humiliating.

_Here is the proof that you wouldn't be a good mother, Isles. You lack the instinct it takes for it._

Feeling Maura's embarrassment, Lydia laughed; lightly.

"She's my second child. Everything's easier because I have experience thanks to TJ. It was hard for me at the beginning. When I found out I was pregnant..." Lydia blushed. She didn't need to remind Maura of the context. "... It's only when I talked to my own mother and I solved my issues with her..." She shrugged. "That's when it became easier. You can't be a good mother if you haven't made stuff clear with your own one; if you aren't in peace with yourself."

Lydia's remark touched Maura more than she would have imagined. Jane didn't stop saying that her brother's wife wasn't the brightest bulb in the box but she had actually gained wisdom since she had given birth to TJ and Maddie.

She was responsible, now.

"What are the three of you doing in the nursery while everyone's waiting in the living-room?" Jane spotted Maddie and ran to her niece to cover her with kisses. "Hey... The four of you, I mean! Hello little cutie! Look at you in your beautiful dress..." She pulled on the piece of clothing. "You're gorgeous. Small wonder why your big brother's so proud of you!"

As Maura observed her wife interact with the baby, she couldn't help but smile. She loved what she was seeing. It made her melt. Jane loved her niece, her nephew as well. She was good with children.

_Unlike you._

Maura swallowed hard and forced herself to smile.

"Then let's go back to the living-room. The meal is probably ready, now. You must all be starving."

She turned on her heels – walked to the door of the nursery – then sped up her pace in the corridor as if to leave behind her doubts.

...

"What a big table we have, this year. I'm happy to have everyone here to celebrate Margot's very first Thanksgiving!" Angela winked at the student. "You have to try a bit of everything, every dish. That's a very Rizzoli tradition."

Snort. Jane raised an eyebrow and murmured between clenched teeth.

"Yeah sure. And the best way to put on ten pounds within two hours."

Angela's genuine smile vanished.

"I heard you, Janie."

The interaction made Constance laugh. She had decided to postpone her flight for Paris to the very next day in order to spend Thanksgiving with Maura.

Her impromptu stay in Boston had turned out to be an excellent idea. She and Maura had talked a lot during these past two weeks. Many things had been said, and explained. Many things that now led them to the pleasing sensation to be a bit closer. They were catching back little by little on all the things they had missed out.

"Would you like some wine, Margot?" Bottle in hand, Constance smiled at the French girl only to realize that most of the table was staring at her in disbelief. "What? She is French and it is a day... That calls for celebration. I didn't propose her to try the latest drug on the market."

Maura's loud and nervous laugh took the attention away from her mother. Needless to say that she didn't have the artist's carefree attitude when it came to American habits. She wasn't strict either – and didn't mind if Margot had a glass or two during the meal – but she wasn't as direct about it as her mother and would never be.

"By the way, Maura..." Constance filled Margot's glass and looked back at her daughter. "I've left a note for you on your desk. It is aunt Leonie's phone number. She might give you tips for these little parties you seem to like."

"Oh boy." Maura buried her face in her hands. Her mother was really becoming good at playing the mother card in front of an audience. Perhaps she should herself find inspiration in all this the next time she saw Leo. "I told you that it was a Halloween party and nothing else. Margot was even there!"

Maura's embarrassment level: medium.

"And I was dressed up as a nurse, Constance. This isn't the kind of outfits you find at..." Suddenly realizing that a dozen of people were looking at them, Jane began to stutter. "These parties." And not really better... How was she supposed to know how it worked? "I mean I don't think so!" She paused and faced a heavy silence. "Is it?"

Maura to the rescue. The scientist gently patted her hand and shook her head.

"No, Jane. Unless your outfit is made of leather or something less... Classic... Than what you were wearing. You were simply wearing a very basic costume."

Jane nodded.

"The hell are you talking about?"

Everyone looked at Tommy. He seemed a bit lost. Jane swept away the question with a gesture of the hand and barely repressed a sigh. Talking about libertinage during the Thanksgiving meal was definitely a first. And probably a last.

"Nothing you need to know about." Especially with TJ watching a cartoon on television a few feet away from them. "Just a misunderstanding. Now pass the sweet potatoes. I'm starving!"

End of the libertinage conversation.

"TJ! Where did you get that?" Lydia ran to her son and took off his hand some lipstick. She went to clean his face but frowned as she didn't see anything. "It's... Transparent?"

The little boy giggled and pointed out Jane.

"It's aunt Jane's."

Jane swallowed hard. She had never changed her mind so fast. Why had she even wanted to give up the libertinage conversation? Obviously, her nephew had found something that made her feel quite a lot more mortified.

Like a tennis game of some sort, all the gazes turned back towards her. Tommy, Jane. Jane, TJ. TJ, Jane. And Maura who had pulled on her dress to cover her chest.

Except people were only looking at the scientist with a certain distance.

"It's ahem... It's not gloss. It's..." Jane bit her lips. "It's... Fluorescent?" She closed her eyes and made a face.

She had read about it in the edition of _Cosmopolitan_ that she had "borrowed" at the_ Dirty Robber_ a while ago.

It had sounded weird at first but then she had liked the idea; and the perspective of being able to kiss Maura all over her body without people to notice it. Unless they turned the lights off, of course. Then her boldness would clearly appear.

She opened back her eyes only to see that everyone was now staring at Maura. It hadn't taken them long to understand the use of such unusual lipstick.

That was the reason why Jane had insisted to stop by a comestic store during their Provincetown getaway. She had then revealed the surprise to Maura later on in the evening.

"You know that I am open-minded and I have actually seen a lot in my life but I have to say that your couple rituals are... Unusual. I didn't think you were so creative, Maura." Constance grabbed her glass of wine and raised it to her daughter.

Maura's embarrassment level: very high.

"Ma'! What are you doing?"

In the meantime, Angela had managed to get the lipstick from Lydia – had applied on some on her lips – and was now kissing the back of her hand before covering it with the other and see if it worked in the dark.

"Well, we didn't have that when I was your age, Janie. So I'm curious about things couples use, these days." Amused, Angela put the lipstick down and winked at her daughter. "Don't let your toys out when children are around, Jane. Rule number one of parenting."

Jane mumbled between clenched teeth but missed out Maura's sudden blushing at the parenting remark.

"Except we don't have kids, ma'. We have a dog and a tortoise instead. And please, don't tell me I'm supposed to keep this away from them as well..."


	13. A Sunday In Cambridge

_**Author's note; thank you very much for all your reviews and messages.**_

**December**

**Chapter thirteen: A Sunday In Cambridge**

"I am very proud of you. Your grades have been excellent, so far." Maura folded back the sheet of paper and held it out to Margot. "You surely deserve a break." She laughed. "An international one."

Within a few days, Margot would go back to France to spend Christmas with her family. She wasn't as ecstatic as Jane and Maura had assumed that she would but she was nonetheless glad to see her parents as well as her friends again.

She would come back early January to Boston to start her second semester. It was just a break, a very short one.

"Thank you! College's easy." Her light giggle filled the small coffee shop as she grabbed her large mug of hot chocolate and took a sip of it. "By the way, where did you go to college, Jane? You never told me... You don't talk much about it."

Sitting on an old couch by a large fireplace, Jane remained quiet. It wasn't something that she liked talking about. It made her feel inferior to the rest of the crowd; a bit stupid. But as she felt Maura's comforting hand on her knee, she smiled at Margot and finally found the courage to reply to what was only a fair question in the end.

"I didn't go to college. I went to junior college and then to the Academy."

"Oh." Margot sounded very surprised. Not judgmental, just a bit taken aback. "How come?"

"It was too expensive. I didn't want my parents to sign in for thirty years of debt because of me. Besides, I didn't need it to work for the BPD and that's really what I wanted to do. Easy!" Marius – the cafe owner's cat – jumped on her lap. She smiled at him and began to caress his fur. "Hey, you..."

Margot took another sip of her hot beverage and bit her lips. Her cheeks had turned red. She hadn't meant to sound intrusive and now felt extremely embarrassed.

Tracy Chapman's voice rose through an old radio transistor but barely reached their table where an uncomfortable silence seemed now to be reigning.

"I'm sorry, Jane. I... I didn't mean..."

Jane looked up and tilted her head while a honest smile lit up her face. She didn't look the slightest bit hurt; just serene, happy to be where she was.

"Oh, you don't have to! I regret it, at times. But... I'm actually very happy with my life. I'm married to one of the most beautiful..."

"One of the most?" Cold tone.

Brief glance at a jealous Maura who had raised an eyebrow in suspicion.

"_The_ most beautiful woman on this planet – the smartest one too, for sure – and look at you... My _daughter_ is a bright student who would be practically perfect if she hadn't come up with this stupid lie to impress a guy."

Margot rolled her eyes.

"I'm gonna miss your text messages when I'm in France. I got used to receiving one per hour just to 'check' on me and make sure I don't run out of pretty much anything."

Maura laughed. She and Jane had gone soft on the embarrassing mother attitude thing since Halloween except for the messages. One per hour. It had almost turned into a habit.

"We all deserve a break... From everything!" She winked at Margot and started caressing Marius who was now purring on Jane's lap.

"Dr. Isles, I presume?"

Jane – Margot – and Maura turned around at the same time to look at the person who had just asked the question.

"Oh! Professor Hartford!" Margot immediately stood up and motioned Jane. "This is Jane Rizzoli... Detective Jane Rizzoli... And... And Dr. Maura Isles, indeed. You presumed right. Mrs. Hartford is my Medieval Poetry professor."

Jane and Maura politely shook the professor's hand; a woman in her late fifties with a very thick British accent.

"It is a beautiful house that you have. I saw it in _Out Magazine_. Beacon Hill surely is a very nice neighborhood. I used to live there myself during my first years in Boston but I ended up succumbing to the charms of Cambridge... It was a very interesting interview, Ava did a good job. She is talented. Anyway, I don't want to interrupt this Sunday family moment. Have a nice day and enjoy your holidays, Margot. See you in January!"

The woman walked towards the bottom of the room and stopped by a table where another woman was sitting. They kissed on the cheek then the professor sat down. Jane squinted her eyes at the scene, her curiosity piqued.

"She's gay?"

Margot shrugged. It hadn't crossed her mind until now although straight people rarely read _Out Magazine_. But then, it could be found anywhere in Cambridge.

Professor Hartford might have simply leafed through it one day while waiting for someone.

"I don't know." She scratched her head. "She doesn't ping like you, though."

If the remark made Maura giggle, Jane simply choked on her drink.

...

They left the cafe thirty minutes later and huddled up against themselves as an icy wind seemed to tightened its grip on their frames. Jane shivered. She had never liked Bostonian winters. Too cold, too grey. She had no idea how Maura - on the other hand - seemed so much in her element among blizzards and polar temperatures.

"Well... Thank you for coming, today." Margot rubbed her hands together. "You're the only people I know who come to visit students on a weekly basis and... I really appreciate it; even more since you're not even my mothers nor anything like that."

"We might not be blood related but you _are_ family, Margot." Maura took the student in her arms and hugged her tightly. "Take care and respect your sleep schedule."

Jane rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. She repeated the gesture instead - hugging the student tightly - and only once Margot disappeared at the corner of the street did she turn around to look at Maura.

"We're off?"

The scientist pouted. She looked at the small square and bit her lips. Sundays in Cambridge were always full of life, but of the peaceful kind. She loved the atmosphere that seemed to emanate from the small streets and squares.

"Can we walk for a little while before...? I don't feel like going back to Boston already."

Not the kind of requests Jane had wished for but she nonetheless nodded and grabbed Maura's hand. She didn't have any reason to say no. As a matter of fact, she didn't know how to say no to her wife.

"You want my death, right?"

Gasp.

Maura looked horrified; genuinely horrified. And way too literal, one more time.

"Of course not! How do you dare to say such a thing? I love you... Why would I want to see you dead?"

"Why do you have to be so literal..." Eyeroll, sigh. "I didn't mean it, Maura! It's just an expression... Oh boy..."

They walked to another square with just as many cafes and bookstores as the previous one. This time, Maura stopped and locked her eyes into her wife's. Her fingers brushed her nape, her smile – delicate – echoing the wonders dancing now in her head.

"I love you, Jane."

They kissed - softly, sweetly - until the giggles of a toddler caught their attention and they dared a look into his direction. The little boy was in his stroller playing with a plastic fire truck while his mother fed him. The scene was random but made Maura smile.

She hadn't forgotten the conversation she had had with her mother and was now waiting for the right moment to talk to Jane about the whole thing. She had tried – once – but had failed. Where was the courage she desperately needed?

_How about now? Perhaps you don't have to plan things in advance. Why don't you abandon yourself to the moment? Just for once...? It won't kill you, Isles. It won't do you any harm. Try. Give it a chance if it is what you want._

"Do you ever..." Surprised by her own whisper, she looked down and swallowed hard. "Do you ever think about this?" She motioned the stroller with her head then waited.

At first, Jane frowned as if she wasn't certain of what her wife was talking about but - the moment she froze - it became clear that she had finally understood what Maura meant.

She blinked, shrugged. The question had troubled her. It was the first time that one of them made a clear allusion to it and she wasn't prepared at all. Maura had taken her off guard. She didn't know what to say.

"I... Ahem..." She looked down at her feet.

Her cell phone rang. She immediately grabbed it and excused herself before taking the call. It was Frost, she couldn't ignore him.

_Worst excuse to run away from Maura's question, Rizzoli._

"Hey, what's up?" She walked a bit further realizing that she needed some distance for a reason she wasn't sure to understand and tried to sound casual. Nod. Another one. "Then send me an email and I'll check this tonight..." Brief – embarrassed – glance at Maura. "Ok... Bye."

"Is everything alright?"

Jane smiled - sincerely - then planted a kiss on top of her wife's head. She nodded.

"Just work related. He might have found something for that freakin' cold case." But it was Sunday – it was her day off – and she didn't feel like talking about work. She and Maura exchanged all week long about it. It was nice to have a break from time to time. "Speaking of cold things... I don't feel my feet anymore. Do you mind if we go back home?"

Maura's smile warmed up her heart, her laugh sending butterflies to dance in her stomach. Sometimes Jane really had a hard time understanding how the scientist could have decided to become her wife. She didn't deserve her.


	14. Triceratops vs Tyrannosaurus

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews - suggestions - and messages; a pleasure to exchange with you all.**_

**Chapter fourteen: Triceratops vs Tyrannosaurus **

Jane leaned against the window and sighed. The street had disappeared under an impressive layer of snow and the wind was now blowing hard. She was losing hope to go out for a while. Pout. Yep. She was trapped inside until further notice.

She turned around and moaned out of boredom. The house was awfully silent, she hated it. Perhaps she could put on some music or watch a movie. She didn't have much to do, after all. She was on call but the weather seemed to have kept murderers inside too. It would be a quiet day. A quiet, boring day.

She went downstairs and slowly crossed the living-room - hands in the pockets of her jeans - to walk in direction of the television.

"Watch out!"

Maura's scream made her jump in surprise. She looked down at the spot her wife was pointing out with her index finger and squinted her eyes at the small amount of dust spread in a large tray.

"What's that?" Jane squatted and grabbed a block of dust to observe it. Now she understood why the house was quiet. Maura had been working on some nerdy thing again. "What are you doing?"

Her question embarrassed the scientist who looked down at the tea boxes and rummaged around as if she were simply looking for the perfect flavor. Shrug. Blushing. More blushing.

"I am excavating a Triceratops."

Jane blinked. She had met Maura eight years earlier – almost a whole decade earlier – and yet the medical examiner still managed to take her completely aback within a sentence.

If Maura's answer had been a tad less incongruous, Jane would have found her wife's ability to still surprise her after all these years rather remarkable.

"You're what?! I mean... What?!"

Maura rolled her eyes and walked to the tray on the floor. She motioned the tools and the block of dust that Jane was still holding.

"It is an archeologist mini-kit. There are dinosaur bones trapped in this block and I am supposed to excavate the body of the animal." Cute - nerdy - smile. "Margot bought them for me!"

Jane held back a chuckle and politely smiled instead. Safest way to keep her distance with an argument.

The blizzard had made Maura turn the house into a brand new Jurassic Park. Fantastic.

Or not.

She made a face and wrinkled her nose, divided between two possibilities: to mock her wife or simply let go of the whole thing. Oh... Who was she kidding?

"Triceratops are lames." Chin up in defiance.

A playful smile lit up Maura's features. She knew this tone of voice, the fake criticism that only hid the desire to take up a challenge.

"I have a Tyrannosaurus kit left. Do you want it?"

Jane didn't hesitate and nodded in a heartbeat. She grabbed the small box - went for a tray - and settled down next to her wife. She threw away the instructions immediately. No way she would lose time reading them. Besides, Maura knew them by heart. She was sure of that.

"So Margot bought that for you? You two...!" Jane raised her arms and crossed them. "Team nerdy forever."

But instead of a snarky reply, she only received a sweet kiss in return; one that sounded loud on her cheek. Maura smiled at her. A foolish grin, one that made her eyes sparkle in delight.

"Sometimes, I don't understand why you married me... You deserve better, Jane. Better than a woman who likes... I don't know... Excavating dinosaurs."

"Like Casey?"

Snort.

"I said 'better'..."

There she had her snarky reply. Maura's offended tone made her giggle. She grabbed a chisel and started digging her block of dust.

"You never liked him, right?"

"I never liked any of them." The confession came out of the blue but Maura decided to fully assume it. She preferred to be honest. She always did. "When I think about it - retrospectively - I realize that I wanted you to be alone. That way, I wouldn't have to look at you steal the life I wanted to have with you." She bit her lip, full of remorse. "It is bad, isn't it?"

Jane shook her head.

"Not the slightest bit as I kind of wished the same to happen to you. It's a bit of a 'sorry not sorry' thing. I didn't want to see you happy with someone else." Shrug. "I know... It's utter jealousy."

...

The night had finally fallen over Boston and - just as Jane had imagined - she hadn't been called to go on a scene. But by the amount of snow she could now see through the windows of the living-room, she was more than okay with it.

"Shit. Are you done with your chisel? I just broke mine." She turned to Maura and pushed away a strand of hair from her face.

"No but I will use the brush for a while so you can have it. It is fine." Maura held out the tool and cleaned her hands before grabbing her tea mug. "Did you know... That Triceratops – and their subgenres – used to live during the Late Cretaceous of North America?"

Jane winced. Of course, Maura had to go Wikipedia on her at some point. She had been way too quiet for most of the afternoon to not lecture her about dinosaurs.

"I probably learned that at school but all I kept in mind's that the Triceratops was a cool buddy but not a badass." Index finger pointed towards her own block. "Unlike mine. I'm takin' charge of the... Bad guy."

The door of the patio flew open. An icy wind came in, bringing in big snow flakes. Frankie made a step inside and waved at them.

"What are you doing here? You should be home!" Jane frowned at her brother. "How was work?"

"Your house's on my way."

"No, it's not..."

Eyeroll.

"Yes it is when you come back skiing from the BPD." Frankie paused and waited for his sister and her wife's chuckles to stop. "I wanted to make sure you were all ok. I also brought you a couple of papers regarding that ceremony Cavanaugh wants to hold."

Jane didn't hide her lack of enthusiasm. She hated these events, especially if if meant that she had to write a speech.

Fingers crossed it got cancelled because of the snow. Then she would never complain about Bostonian winters ever again.

"Ok, thanks. You can leave that on the kitchen counter. I made some hot chocolate. Get some if you want to before leaving again."

Frankie nodded and gladly went to pour himself a very large mug of the hot drink. He motioned the two trays on the floor.

"What are you doing?"

"We are excavating dinosaurs." Maura offered him her biggest smile. A nerdy one. "I am working on a Triceratops while Jane got the Tyrannosaurus. We should be done in a couple of hours, now."

The silence that followed wouldn't have been that bad if Frankie hadn't looked at his sister-in-law as if she had lost her mind. Glance at Jane for any kind confirmation. She raised a miniature chisel and enthusiastically nodded.

Frankie frowned.

"You two are really weird. What kind of couple doesn't take advantage of a snow storm to spend the day in bed?"

"The kind that knows a relative is going to stop by uninvited and could walk in on them at any moment?"

Jane 1 – 0 Frankie.

It wasn't that she didn't want to spend more time in Maura's arms but since Constance had walked in on her dancing naked in the kitchen, Jane had slowed down on her bold side and preferred now to keep it for more personal places.

Exit the kitchen and living-room, for instance.

"You're paid to look at dead bodies and – during your free time – you excavate bones? You're both really dedicated to forensics!" He put down the empty mug. "How's your French daughter, by the way?"

"She is enjoying the warm winter of Bordeaux. Her plane landed safely yesterday. She called us as soon as she got there." Maura grabbed back her chisel and resumed her excavation. "She was not... Really happy... To miss out the blizzard. Obviously, she doesn't know what she is talking about."

Jane nodded. She couldn't but support Maura's point.

"I'd pay a lot for this snow to stop. Even Jo Friday doesn't want to go out. Where did you get these skis, by the way? You never go skiing."

Frankie adjusted his hat and gloves before tightening the knot of his woolen scarf. He was ready to go.

"I went to a sport supply store a few days ago when I saw that a blizzard was coming our way. I wanted a snowboard but the streets are too flat from the BPD to my place."

"You can spend the night here if you want. Both guestrooms are available."

Frankie shook his head, turned down Maura's invitation.

"Nah thanks... Skiing's just another way of exercizing! It's not that bad. I'd be home within 20 minutes now."

"What's her name?" Jane barely hid a smirk.

One. Two. Three. She raised an amused eyebrow before her brother's silence.

"Pam..." Embarrassed voice. Frankie turned around as Jane and Maura began to giggle again. "Well, have a nice evening among your bones. The Triceratops is a nice choice, Maura."

"Are you kidding?" Jane scoffed. "The Tyrannosaurus kills it all!"

Frankie shook his head at his sister – opened the door – and stepped outside before casting a last glance at them. The wind brought in some more snowflakes.

"Nah. The Triceratops is the cool buddy. He's nice with everybody so he wins." Frankie laughed as he realized that he had managed to piss his sister. "Goodbye!"

Jane pouted and growled. Upset, she crossed her arms against her chest like a child about to throw a tantrum. She clenched her teeth.

"Bullshit..."


	15. The Day Before Christmas

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews and messages!**_

**Chapter fifteen: The Day Before Christmas**

As soon as Jane heard the door get slammed, she crossed the living-room and rushed to the lobby. She had wanted to call Maura earlier in the afternoon to let her know that she had seen Leo and that they had shared a coffee together but had finally decided to wait for dinner when they were back at home together.

Yet the minute she saw her wife, her excitement at the prospect of gossiping a bit vanished.

"It's madly snowing outside, Maura. Why are you wearing your Chanel sunglasses? It's not sunny... Even less at 6.30pm on a December evening."

Maura shrugged – planted a light kiss on Jane's lips – then walked to the kitchen to pour herself one very large glass of wine. A long silence followed before she dared to speak.

"Why not...!" She made a face: not the most convincing reason she could give to a detective.

Her curiosity piqued, Jane walked back to the kitchen and squinted her eyes in suspicion at her wife. The scientist's gestures were blatantly betraying her: she kept on avoiding Jane's gaze at all cost and adjusted her glasses every second or so.

"Maura." Jane bit her lips and crossed her arms against her chest. The Leo thing could wait. She had a brand new priority, now. But no reaction to it. "Maura!"

The medical examiner finally put an end to her game of hide-and-seek and forced a smile that did not really fool Jane. She leaned against the counter as casually as she could.

"Yes?"

Alright. Jane ran her tongue over her lips and nodded at nobody but herself. If Maura wanted really wanted to play this game then she wouldn't leave her a chance to win. Not even in her dreams. Game: on.

"You're inside the house, now. Don't you think it's time for you to take your sunglasses off? What are you hiding from me? It's ridiculous!"

Maura nervously laughed and took a long sip of her glass of wine to win some time. She didn't look comfortable at all. Needless to say that her behavior only made Jane even more curious.

"This is just a pair of sunglasses, Jane. Why do you focus so much on them, in the end? Didn't you have something you wanted to tell me? I have to say that your text message was very mysterious."

Jane rolled her eyes. Enough with it already. She nodded – pretended to go for a kiss – and grabbed Maura's sunglasses. Easy, too easy. Although she wasn't prepared for what she came to face.

Gasp. She put a hand in front of her mouth to hide her shock.

"What on Earth happened?"

Maura winced. The volume of her left eye had been tripled and the skin was now going through a rainbow of different colors. Jane frowned and observed the damage.

She slowly approached her hand from the injury but Maura made a step backwards right away.

"Just a little accident at the lab, today." Maura shrugged, more ashamed than hurt. "We should have known that using such amount of Nitrogen would..."

"Skip the periodic table speech, you know you'll only manage to lose me with it. What happened?"

The least Maura could say was that it was embarrassing. She had hoped that Jane wouldn't be there when she came back home even if she wasn't working today. It would have spared her an incredible amount of jokes she knew Jane would make as soon as she would know the truth behind the reason of her current black eye.

"A little explosion. Josh read a very interesting article and we decided to give a try to the experience but it didn't turn out as successful as we hoped for. Susie broke her glasses and I needed maybe four shampoos to get rid off the liquids that flew off during the explosion... They glued to my hair."

"That doesn't explain the black eye." Although a very amused smile had already appeared on Jane's lips and her tone of voice now betrayed the difficulty she was having to not burst out laughing.

"I got hit by my cell phone." Maura swallowed hard and tried to ignore her wife's chuckles. "I was wearing my protection glasses but they flew off and sadly did my cell phone too. It hit me right away. I didn't have a chance to avoid it. It went very fast."

Jane really burst out laughing, this time. She shook her head to apologize and grabbed her wife by the shoulders to lead her to the living-room. She motioned her the couch and took a deep breath to hold back a new wave of giggles.

"How about some ice? I'm a black eye specialist. I've got two brothers, after all."

Maura nodded quietly, shamefully. She sat down and pretended to sweep away some dust from her skirt then straigtened up.

"Maybe some Arnica too...? Do you know where it is in the bathroom?"

Within five minutes, Jane was back with everything. She settled on the couch next to her wife and grabbed the Arnica ointment first.

_The daily life, Rizzoli. This is what you signed for when you decided to marry a science geek. Congrats. Your life's now super entertaining but don't show it too much. She can hit._

"I promise I'll go slow." She carefully approached a finger from Maura's cheekbone and began to apply the ointment. "Does it hurt?" Maura shook her head but the way she winced betrayed her real feelings. "It's almost over."

"So what did you want to talk to me about?"

Jane nodded. She had – indeed – remained quite vague in her text message since she had preferred to wait for a real face-to-face to break the news. She settled further on the couch and barely restrained a smirk before her impatience.

"I had a coffee with our dear Leo, today. In the South End. I swear... The LGBT association, now the gay district... If I didn't know better, I'd say he's gay himself!"

Maura turned her head around to properly look at her wife.

Through only one eye though.

Yet she looked just as surprised as what Jane had assumed that she would be. Epic win.

"Don't tell me you called him to set some sort of date with him..."

Alright. This wasn't a remark Jane had expected in return. Not at all. With Margot being in France, she had put into parenthesis her Mamma Rizzoli side and hadn't even thought about him when seeing Leo. Not a single second.

"What?! Are you crazy...?" Although she had to admit that it was a genius idea if she had wanted to work a bit on the whole mother plan. "No... We met by accident and I offered him a coffee. That's... That's all. Frenchie's not here so I give her a break on this front too."

"Then what happened? What did you talk about?" Maura grabbed back her glass of wine and held the ice pack against her cheekbone at the same time. "Is he as nice as he seems to be?"

Jane nodded. She had really hoped to find something that she wouldn't like in Leo but she had not, even after this unplanned coffee break.

"He's smart – tolerant – and likes the Red Sox. He's totally material. He doesn't smoke, doesn't drink... Man, he's almost too good to be true. There gotta be something!"

"Did he talk to you about Margot?"

Jane nodded but immediately made a face. That was the main issue she had and maybe the reason why she wanted to talk to Maura about it. Leo had only had nice words about the French girl. He really was into her.

"I'm afraid he has big plans for them." She shrugged. "I don't know if she realizes it... I'm not sure they're on the same page regarding their relation. He wants to invite us for dinner so we can meet his parents."

Maura blinked.

"Why does he want us to meet his parents?"

The question took Jane aback. Had Maura been hit on the head that she seemed suddenly deprived of any common sense? Perhaps they would have to run further medical exams. What a way to spend Christmas' Eve, though.

"Because he thinks we are Margot's mothers, of course!" She sighed and leaned her head backwards. Eyes closed. "Margot's lie is gonna hurt him big time. It's terrible, Maura. It really is. We have to do something."

"Do you think he is in love with her?"

Jane shrugged. She preferred not to think about it but the truth was that it seemed plausible and she felt extremely bad, now. She bit her lower lip and leaned her head against her wife's as she felt her settle in the crook of her neck.

"Ouch!"

Failed attempt. Maura immediately sat back up and winced in pain. She couldn't lean on the left side of her face for the moment and - by the evolution of her black eye - things weren't about to go back to normal anytime soon.

"Maybe we need to have a little chat with Margot next time we have her on Skype. In the meantime – and if you don't mind – I prefer to postpone any kind of dinner. I don't want Leo's parents to see... To see me like that." She motioned her black eye.

"You're right. They could think you belong to the mafia just like your biological dad..." Snap on her forearm. "Hey!"

"Do I need to remind you how often you came back home all bruised?"

Snort.

A teasing smirk played on Jane's lips before she bent over to lightly kiss Maura on the cheek.

"Maybe but it never had to do with flying cell phones and periodic tables."

Maura pouted and put down the ice pack. She tried to raise an eyebrow. In vain. Her eye was too sore for the slightest movement.

"I am just more creative. Accept it." She watched Jane stand up. "Where are you going to?"

Hands in the pockets of her jeans, the brunette grinned.

"I left my cell phone upstairs. It's Christmas' Eve. No way I don't send a picture of your face to all my contact list."

"Don't you even dare..." But by the time Maura stood up, Jane had already reached the first floor.


	16. An Impromptu Visit

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews, it's a pleasure to read them. **_

**January**

**Chapter sixteen: An Impromptu Visit**

Two minutes of work, ten minutes of daydreams.

Maura sighed.

She couldn't concentrate. As much as she tried, the words kept on dancing in front of her eyes in a hypnotizing way. Then they took her far, very far from the morgue. Too far.

It didn't happen often but when it did, the scientist felt all the frustration of the world press on her shoulders. And with the frustration came stress. And with stress, a headache. The same bloody scheme she couldn't stand.

_If you cannot concentrate then it means that your subconscious is trying to tell you something, Isles. Be honest with yourself. You already know that._

"We need to talk."

Jane's irruption in her office made her jump in surprise. She hadn't heard her come in as her brain had been focused on a non-exhaustive list of countries that she would like to visit. A bit too enthusiastic at the prospect of having now a good reason to postpone her work, she put down her pen on top of the file she was supposed to review and smiled.

"About what? I told you that I wasn't angry. I mean it, Jane. This is the kind of thing that could happen to anyone. You just picked up the wrong detergent. It isn't a crime." Too harrassing. She softened her voice and forced herself to really calm down. "I don't like the smell of the one you got but I am not holding it against you."

Domestic arguments. Her favorite. Not.

Ironic thumb up from Jane. Obviously, she wasn't very convinced. She went to lean against the desk and grabbed a pencil. Maura's warning in one, two, three...

"Don't chew on it. I already told you about the amount of bacteria you are putting into your mouth when you do that."

Eyeroll. Pencil back on the desk.

"I didn't come to talk about detergents."

"Good...?" Maura swallowed hard. She wasn't sure that she liked this improvised conversation. She wasn't prepared for it. But then who was prepared for something improvised? "What... What do you want to talk about, then?"

All of a sudden, Maura thought about the conversation she had tried to start back in December. Margot had just left them and they had walked for a while in the streets of Cambridge but just as she had asked the question to Jane, a phone call had put an abrupt end to it. Then she had given up, out of cowardice.

Maternity.

Why would Jane feel the urge to talk about it now, in the middle of the day? She was working on a case. Babies and what-ifs didn't fit much. No. Maura shook her head. It had to be something else.

"Leo's parents."

_See, Isles? Nothing to do with children. Well, not really unless you consider Margot as your lovely daughter and we all know that you don't. _

"Now?" She didn't mean to sound cold but she was almost certain that such topic could wait as well. "Don't take it badly but is it really an emergency?"

"They are at the _Division One Cafe_ right now and want to see us."

Okay.

It _was_ an emergency.

...

"So you're meeting them next week?" Cailin raised a very unconvinced eyebrow at Maura but didn't add anything.

She didn't need to. Her facial expressions were explicit enough. She grabbed her glass of wine and briefly cast a glance at Jane in the process.

"They're super nice. We couldn't turn them down! They came to the BPD and all... Hopefully, this... Little dinner... Will not be all about Margot." Jane's voice betrayed her lack of confidence, though.

"I think it's kind of cool you accepted to play along. Completely immoral and you're flirting with the limits of it right now. You also need to learn how to say no to Margot - you need to set limits here - because as much as you are not really her parents, it's the role you're sort of playing now; like guardians. You're her adult reference. Her parents are on the other side of the ocean. She needs role models so you have to play it fair... But then she just wanted to impress the guy she likes. Not in the smartest way but who hasn't done that? Or pretend we liked something when it wasn't true...?" She smiled. "We're all guilty of this. I'm sure you have done it with each other."

Jane and Maura exchanged an anxious look and frowned. Cailin was very talented at putting them in uncomfortable situations like this one since she had majored in psychology. Jane saw it as a Guinea pig moment, Maura as a simple conscientiousness trick.

Either way, they both agreed on saying that it wasn't pleasing.

"Of course not!" Jane chuckled but immediately hid herself behind her bottle of beer and noticed it. Time to save up her lovely ass. "Maura knows what I like and what I don't. Maybe – and I say maybe – I tried stuff just to please one of her odd hobbies... But that's what couples do! It's couple compromises."

"This is very true, Cailin. I never cheated with Jane. Anyway, I would have a hard time doing so as I cannot lie. I... No..." Maura shook her head and looked at her wife. "No, I don't think I ever did that with Jane. I never tried to fool her..."

Hope's daughter snorted. The kind of snort that made Jane clench her teeth because she knew what it meant. Cailin was about to go all therapy on them. She was about to analyze every single detail – with more or less precision and fairness – then would let them soak in their shock for the rest of the evening.

"You are a very lovely couple but I can't believe that. You turned so nervous that you hid behind a bottle, Jane. And you – Maura – you tried to use an argument that we all know we can't really take for granted as you have perfectly managed to pretend to be Margot's mother until now. You're good at playing on words."

Jane rolled her eyes. She wasn't in the mood for a Freudian evening.

All she wanted was to have a nice little moment with Maura – and maybe with Cailin too – but nothing that would point out she might not have been as sincere as her subconscious would like her to be.

"How's the love life?"

Jane's question took Cailin aback. Only for two seconds, though.

"Trying to change the subject?" Cailin laughed lightly. "It's going very fine, thank you for asking. Jay and I are doing just fine."

And failed. Jane forced a smile. She had hoped for a more constructive reply, something that would at least fill the next five minutes which was the required time for Cailin to forget that she had two potential subjects here to analyze.

"Will I get a nephew or a niece any time soon?"

"I could return you the question..." Cailin winked at a mortified Maura. "Shouldn't you be the first? I'm only twenty-seven, after all."

Maura made a face. Perhaps she shouldn't have talked in the first place.

Cailin was not the first one who made baby allusions – Angela practically did it every day – but it was a delicate matter lately and she didn't know how to face it. Her own mother had sent her a mail a couple of days earlier – from Tokyo – asking her whether she had finally had the guts to talk to Jane about it.

It wasn't the right moment. She had a lot of work at the morgue and Jane was still on this cold case that brought daily doses of stress. High doses of stress. It would have to wait.

Again.

Cailin's cell phone rang. Saved by the bell. The young woman stood up and excused herself before walking to the kitchen to take the call. Jane and Maura remained on the couch. Staring straight in front of them.

"Did you cheat with me, Jane? Did you ever do this? Did you ever try to fool me?"

Jane closed her eyes and took a deep breath. This was the exact reason why she didn't like it when Maura's sister used her psychologist skills on them. It always raised questions that had no reason whatsoever to be.

"What?"

"You heard me. Did you ever pretend to like something just because I liked it?" Maura bit her lower lip. "Cailin is right. I saw you hide behind your beer. This is not something you would have done if you hadn't felt guilty one way or another."

"Man...! You gotta be kidding me. Maura... Can you think of a time when I didn't make clear that I didn't like what you liked?"

"No, not really." Jane was right. She always made sure Maura got it when she didn't like something. This was even the reason why she was grumpy on an almost daily basis. "But I wouldn't take it badly... Of course I prefer honesty but it is okay to feel the urge to impress the person we love. It is only human, after all."

"I'm not enough of a genius to do that. Look at how long it took me to admit to myself that I didn't just see you as a friend. It took me years to realize I had feelings for you. And by the time I did... It was too late to try to impress you."

Jane's reply must have been convincing enough because Maura cupped her wife's face in her hands then leaned over to plant a delicate kiss on her lips.

"Oh... Believe me, you tried to impress me! More than once... And you succeeded. You definitely did."


	17. Her Name Is Elsa

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all the reviews and messages (I need to take the time to properly reply to the PMs, sorry for the delay)**_

**Chapter seventeen: Her Name Is Elsa**

The living-room was cozy – rather modern – with impressive French windows that overlooked an immense backyard. The vision of it under the snow was breathtaking; peaceful too.

Maura would have loved observing it for long hours. If only she had been alone...

The layer of white that seemed to spread almost endless before her eyes was hypnotizing. She felt fine while looking at it. Serene – perfectly calm – in spite of the context she was in.

Guardians. Cailin had been right.

This was how she saw her relation to Margot in the end. As much as the French girl was now eighteen, the fact she was living in a foreign country far from her family pushed Maura to act – and think – as a guardian with her. Thanks to such theory, she had found the courage to attend Leo's parents' dinner yet hoping that they wouldn't ask anything regarding Margot's childhood.

It was one thing to tease Margot about her lie but it surely was another to keep it up with other people too.

Everything had gone smoothly when she and Jane had met them at the _Division One Cafe_ a week or so earlier. They had been adorable and even if she thought that Margot needed to tell Leo the truth – because it was only fair, after all – she had accepted to share a dinner with them as a substitute.

Margot's parents were in Bordeaux. They should have been the ones meeting Leo's parents but they couldn't be here for obvious logistical reasons. As Margot's implicit guardian, it was thus Maura and Jane's role to do so.

Besides, chances were that they wouldn't be asked anything regarding Margot.

It was just a classic – very informal – dinner and she had to admit that she was curious to spend time with Margot's boyfriend's parents. He seemed balanced but she wanted to make sure that his whole family was just like him too.

"This is an excellent champagne, Sue."

The compliment seemed to go straight to Leo's mother's heart. A grin of delight lit up her features. She grabbed the bottle and motioned Maura's glass.

"Would you like some more?"

Jane and Tom were having a look at a series of photographies of the Red Sox – old ones – that Leo's grandfather had taken way back then. They were all in the hallway by the door – hung on the wall – and Jane had noticed them right away when they had arrived.

Sitting on the couch, Maura could hear her wife's voice there in the distance. It peacefully – oddly – rocked her. She loved it more than anything.

"I'm glad you managed to take a day off to come here to Brookline. You both have demanding jobs. Your schedules are probably complicated, not really of the 9-to-5 kind."

"Indeed. Thankfully, our colleagues show themselves to be rather flexible. Jane is working on a rather big case but I am not... Yet it doesn't require her presence on site 24h/day, it is an old case; a cold case actually." Maura was about to add some pointless comment when she noticed the brochure on the coffee table. She frowned, confused. "Are you..."

Sue nodded.

"Yes. We have finalized the adoption papers for a little Haitian girl. Her name is Elsa. She'll be here in a couple of months, now. We had been thinking about it for a while... You know, all our children had left the house and we were deeply missing the family atmosphere we had had for so many years... The house needed a new breath. Elsa will bring it. We are very happy. This house's too big for only two people."

"Congratulations." As much as she meant it, Maura had to admit that her tone had been rather blank and almost deprived of any sympathy. It made her blush. "What... What an excellent initiative!" She had been taken aback.

It was almost too personal for her to handle.

"Thank you. What about you? Have you and Jane ever thought about adoption too? Or even... Just a baby? You're still very young, after all."

Maura heard a bird outside. She focused on it for a while before abdicating. She hadn't recognized the birdsong at all. As her eyes landed back on Sue, she politely smiled but remained quiet. She had not expected the conversation to take this direction. Not at all.

"Talking about our little Elsa?"

She turned around only to see Tom and Jane make it back into the living-room. Leo's father looked as ecstatic as Sue had been when alluding to the adoption.

"Who's Elsa?" Jane sat back on the couch next to Maura and genuinely smiled at their hosts. They were nice but she wasn't sure that she could make any _Frozen_ reference already. They weren't _that_ close either. "She's...?" A dog?

"Elsa is our... Daughter." Sue nodded at her husband. "Yes, I guess it's fair to say it now. We have just finalized the adoption process. She's still in Haiti for the moment but will be here with us very soon, now."

"Oh." Jane bit her lips and blushed. Good thing she hadn't assumed out loud that Elsa might have been a dog or a cat. She would have died at the scene. "This is... This is fantastic!"

"It is, indeed. And that's why I was talking about it with Maura. I was asking her if you had ever... You know... Thought about adoption too. Or give it another try at maternity as you two are still young enough for it."

Whatever was left of genuine on Jane's face vanished right away. She knew that they had to openly talk about it – at least to make things clear – but it was a lot harder than what she had imagined. They were stuck on Level 0.

"Oh ahem... No. No... We ahem... We haven't." She shook her head, looked down at her lap. "We haven't."

"Wouldn't you like having a child around? A house is so much warmer when it's filled of innocent laugh and this pure - genuine - happiness only children have. Their joy is very contagious."

Sue and Tom were teachers. Children were their specialty. What they were saying was very true but the thing was that they had the experience it took to be good parents. Jane didn't. Playing with TJ – from time to time – had nothing to do with parenting. Besides, she didn't think that Maura wanted it.

It was just so blurry.

But because she was well educated and knew when to be polite, Jane nodded at Sue and squeezed Maura's knee.

"It is, indeed."

...

She was tired and wanted nothing but to find back the warmth of her bed. Then she would just fall asleep in Jane's arms and everything would be perfect again.

If only.

Reality had decided to not match her fantasies and – instead – Maura was stuck in Boston traffic on their way back from Brookline.

The dinner had gone smoothly. Sue and Tom were very nice and once Margot and Leo had joined, a large part of the evening had been dedicated to the students' education and what they would do once they graduated.

Margot still wanted to go back to France. She cared about Leo – loved him – but didn't want to go and settle with anyone so young. She wanted to live, to experience a thousand things. He knew it. She had told him about it when coming back from Bordeaux after the holidays. He accepted it.

She just hadn't mentioned yet that Jane and Maura weren't her parents. One thing at a time, she had said. Of course, her so-called mothers had accepted. They couldn't turn her down anyway. It didn't work. They were unable to do so.

_What kind of parents would we be if we are incapable of saying no to Margot?_

"It was strange, no?"

Jane's voice took Maura out of her daydreams. Hands on the steering-wheel, she turned her head and stared at her wife a bit blankly.

"What was strange?"

Jane shrugged. She had been playing with the buttons of her coat for the last fifteen minutes or so. Out of nervousness.

"Dunno. All of this... The dinner. It's the first time I had the feeling that... That parents considered me as one of them." Her remark made her raise an eyebrow in surprise. Yet it was exactly how she had experienced the evening. "Not in a bad way, you know. It made me feel older but... I dunno. It was like everything was fitting together. It made sense. It was like I was where I supposed to be at the right time."

Maura focused back on the road. No idea why, though. Not a single car had moved an inch but the concert of horns still filled the street in the most annoying way ever.

"Elsa's a cute name. I like it."

Nod. A silent one. Maura could hear Jane's uncertainty pierce through her tone of voice but she did not know how to react to it; what to say. So she remained quiet instead, almost paralyzed; her hands on the steering-wheel as if her life depended on it. Maybe it did, actually. Maybe her life did depend on it. Or at least a part of it.

And then it happened. At 11.22pm. On a snowy day. Their Prius stuck between a Honda and a large Toyota on Arlington Street. Jane took a deep breath and let the words come out.

"Have you ever thought about baby names? Have you ever thought about having children with me? Like... Have you ever wanted to build a family? ... With me...?"

Maura swallowed hard. There they were. At last. And none of them would be able to run awauy from it, this time.


	18. We All Have A Plan But Maura

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews, I appreciate them a lot. **_

**February**

**Chapter eighteen: We All Have A Plan But Maura Has More Than One**

It is only when Jane burst in Margot's room that she realized she could have walked in on her in a rather compromising position with anyone. Thankfully, the student was simply sitting at her desk reading a book.

_So much for a dramatic effect, Rizzoli. Next time make sure it's all safe before doing that._

Jane closed back the door behind her and offered Margot her most schizophrenic smile. She walked to the desk but the big teddy bear on her left caught her attention first. She frowned, laughed.

"You still have it?"

"What?" Margot put her book down and properly turned around. She didn't even look surprised by the unexpected visit, just amused. "Oh, Robert?"

Jane made a face.

"You called it Robert?!"

"Yeah... Don't you think it has a Robert face? I think it does." Margot yawned and stretched out her arms. She had been working for the last four hours and was desperately in need of a break. "Hi, by the way."

Margot's question had left Jane perplexed. No, she didn't think that this huge teddy bear had a Rob face. As a matter of fact, she was even surprised to see that the French girl hadn't tried to get rid of it in the first place.

She was almost nineteen years old. What kind of student had cuddly toys in her room on campus?

_At this age they eventually have another kind of toys, Rizzoli. But maybe it's not the right moment to think about this. What do you think?_

Jane made a face. Why had she even thought about that?

But back to what had brought her to Cambridge in the first place.

"Ahem... Yeah, hi." Brief look at the desk that was just as neat as Maura's. "Alright now where's my birthday present? You know, the one you and Maura have been plotting about for the last couple of weeks."

Margot opened wide eyes and held back a chuckle. She brought her hand to her mouth then shook her head before motioning the room.

"There's nothing, here. I'm afraid you knocked on the wrong door."

_Don't let her fool you, Rizzoli. You're a detective. You noticed the whispers – the text messages – as well as the looks they both exchanged. They have something in mind and you know it._

"Oh, c'mon! I know you're up to something with Maura. Just tell me what is is! She won't know and I'll just fake it when the day has come." Jane joined her hands together. "Please! Please! Please!"

"We celebrate your birthday this weekend. Can't you just wait? It's in five days."

Wrong answer from Margot unless she wanted to go on Jane's nerves. Jane hadn't driven all the way to Cambridge to hear wise words. Certainly not. She would have stayed home for that.

Damn.

"I know you're up to somethin'."

"You too." Margot shrugged – turned back around – and opened her book. "You too have been like doing secret things with Maura and I don't know what it is."

Jane swallowed hard and made a step backwards. She had kind of hoped that nobody had noticed it. In vain.

But now she thought about it, she couldn't say that they had been very discreet. Although it had nothing to do with the lightness of a birthday present. It was different. Very different.

Artificial inseminations. Adoptions.

These were the two topics she and Maura had done research on since their conversation in the car as they were coming back from Brookline. They hadn't come to any conclusion but were now actively thinking about it; weighing up the pros and cons. It was already a big step for them but they did not want to talk about it to anyone else for the moment. There was nothing sure at all.

Absolutely nothing.

They would let people know on time. Yes. If there was anything to let them know about. For the moment, it was a very tiny idea.

"It's not the same."

"I believe you and respect your decision to not tell me anything about it. So why wouldn't you do the same for your birthday present?"

The smirk that suddenly appeared on Margot's lips – making her eyes glimmer – caused Jane to gasp. Hand on her mouth; eyes squinted in the grip of doubts.

"Ha ha!" Perfect dramatic effect, this time. "See! I was right. You know what it is; you know what my birthday present is _and_ you probably even played an active role in the whole thing." But even such Manichean remark didn't have any effect whatsoever on Margot. "C'mon, give me a hint."

"No, I won't." Margot laughed. She couldn't believe that Jane had made all her way to Cambridge just in the hope to learn what her birthday present was. It was completely surreal. "I'm sorry but you'll just have to wait! Besides, there's no clue in my room. I have nothing here. Nothing at all."

Someone knocked on the door. Jane turned around only to see a young girl poke her head, a sheet of paper in hand.

"Hey, Margot! I got the list of the..."

Why had she stopped talking? Jane immediately turned back around to look at Margot. The smile the student gave her betrayed the awkwardness of the moment. Back on the other girl who seemed to have made a step backwards and was now hiding her sheet of paper in her back.

"Homicide Detective Jane Rizzoli-Isles. May I see what you're holding, please?" Jane held back a smile. She could hardly sound more intimidated. "I said _please_...?"

The student had turned livid and looked on the verge of a panic attack.

"Don't you need a warrant or something to ask me that?"

Jane blinked. The kids, these days! She forced a smile.

"Usually '_please_' is enough."

"Wh-... Why, ma'am?"

"You called me "ma'am"...?" If Jane had been in control until now, it seemed like the situation was slipping through her fingers by the second now.

"Oh boy." Margot buried her face into her hands and shook her head.

_Damn it's a subterfuge, Rizzoli! What are you? A rookie?_

Too late, though. By the time Jane looked back at the door, Margot's classmate had run away and disappeared. Birthday mission: not really accomplished.

...

"I cannot believe that you did that."

Jane had understood that she was in trouble when she had tried the puppy eyes on Maura and that it hadn't worked out at all.

If her wife didn't respond positively to the puppy eyes then she would not respond positively to anything which suddenly made the situation very complicated; delicate to handle.

"You intimidated a student on campus – assuming that she knew something about your birthday – and let her know that you had previously run a checkup on her criminal record?" Pause. Lips pursed. "And then you think I went a bit far with the condoms?"

Jane looked down at her lap. She hadn't asked for it to happen but – once she had left Margot – she had crossed the girl who had previously knocked on the door and hadn't been able to resist. As for the criminal record, she had run it a while ago as part of her mama Rizzoli role but hadn't thought that she would actually use it at some point.

"You blackmailed her, Jane."

Then it had made Margot laugh and she had invited the two students for a drink as well as a nice – friendly – chat which proved that it was alright but something told her that Maura didn't want to hear about that. Not just yet.

"You want to know what your birthday present was going to be? Well, let me tell you that I actually cancelled it as soon as I was told what you had done and that I am now using my plan C which means... That you will never find out about it before Saturday."

A plan C? Jane made a face. How many backup plans did Maura have, exactly? It was almost more scaring than all the rest. She really had married a control freak. But one more time, Jane just knew better than to say anything.

A big envelope on her wife's desk caught her attention. She grabbed it and waved it at the scientist who was still looking at her suspiciously.

"Oh look at that... We got some more information from an adoption agency." Her weak smile didn't weigh much with Maura's eyeroll.

Unfair battle.

"You are impossible, Jane." The timid smile that softened Maura's features made clear that she was about to cave in. "You really are impossible." She burst out laughing.

End of the domestic scene.

"C'mon, sit next to me. It's the agency Leo's parents chose for Elsa's adoption. I wanna see how it works." Jane patted the couch and waited for Maura to join her before tearing down the envelope.

They hadn't taken a decision yet regarding all this but she loved the freedom with which they now talked about it. She had found it liberating the exact moment they had started talking about it - even if very timidly - in the car.

They had plans, now. They would gather as much information as they could - study the different possibilities together - then make a choice. She didn't know right now if it would be a yes or a no but if there was one thing Jane was sure of, it was that - at least - the prospect of having a child together was not a taboo anymore.


	19. Happy Birthday

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews and messages (I screwed my back on Saturday so I'll reply to the PMs later on)**_

**Chapter nineteen: Happy Birthday**

Maura stepped out of the bathroom – mischievously winked at Jane – and trotted towards the bed to settle next to her wife. She slid a leg between hers and let her hand run on her stomach. A kiss on her shoulder, another one in the crook of her neck. The message couldn't be clearer.

"Who is now going to have a very private birthday party?" It sounded cliché but she couldn't care less; she had basically been waiting for it all day long.

Gutted, Jane shrugged then grabbed a book on her bedside table. She opened it, ready to resume the reading. It was a good thriller but she surely had hoped for another kind of late-night activity. It was her birthday, after all.

"Someone lucky but this person won't be me."

It took Maura a while to realize what her wife had just said. It is only after the third kiss – this time on her jaw – that the scientist frowned.

"Why are you saying such a thing?" Brief glance at the book. "Why are you reading this novel now? It is your birthday, Jane... And we haven't argued. There is no cold treatment, tonight. I am ready to party wild."

"Yes, there is one." Jane looked at Maura and pouted. "Bad time of the month."

Oh. Maura reluctantly sat back on her side of the bed and stared straight in front of her. They could postpone it. After all, they had just had a very long day and she was a bit tired herself. Over fifteen people had come to celebrate Jane's birthday. Everything had gone smoothly but it had been rather stressing too. Unless... She bit her lower lip, uncertain.

"You know..." Tracing invisible patterns on the blanket, she timidly shrugged. "It is okay. I can... I mean... It doesn't necessarily have to stop me."

"Ew!" Horrified, Jane shook her head before taking some distance with her wife. "Now this is gross, Maura. Don't... Don't do that. Please. Besides, I have cramps anyway so I'm really not in the mood." Back on her novel. "Sorry."

Maura didn't reply. She got up instead and left the bedroom only to come back a minute later with her tablet. Jane cast a brief glance at it and frowned.

"What are you doing? I thought we weren't supposed to bring any kind of screen to bed because it screwed up our sleep pattern."

Jane's remark made Maura smile. She was glad to see that her wife had one more time listened to her. Sometimes, she had the sensation to basically talk to herself. Or to a wall.

"You are eight days early. This is a lot... Have you been tired more than the usual, lately? Perhaps you should see your OB/GYN. Your cycle isn't regular anymore."

_And happy birthday, Rizzoli. Not only are you unable to have sex to celebrate the fact you got older one more time but your wife actually also keeps track of your uterus activity on her iPad. This is really – but really – terrifying. Good thing she got you these four days in Monument Valley as a present. _

"What?! Maura!" Of course, her offended tone of voice didn't have the expected effect on Maura. "It's perfectly okay to be a few days early or late. I'm not on the pill so it can't be... Damn, why are we talking about this?"

"Sure but an eight-day difference? It is quite a lot, Jane. I am a bit worried. Are your cramps more painful than they usually are?"

Jane rolled her eyes. She didn't want to talk about her period now. Everything was perfectly normal. It wasn't really a new situation for her. She knew how to deal with it.

"There's nothing to worry about, Maura. I'm fine." Her cycle was irregular and so what? Work had been stressful and then there was the possibility for them to have a child. The last weeks had been emotionally heavy. "But if you want to really please me... Could you bring me a hot water bottle?"

Maura didn't insist. She nodded – planted a kiss on top of Jane's nose – and left the bedroom again. Relaxing in bed, Jane grabbed her wife's tablet and absentmindedly checked the different dates. It was nothing but stress. She knew it.

Stress and the worst timing ever. They had overslept in the morning – had thus skipped any chance to spend some more time in bed – and the rest of the day had been crazy.

_It's not the end of the world, Rizzoli. You'll have other birthdays. Plenty of birthdays. And it's not like you need it to be your birthday to do it._

Maura made it back to the bedroom and put the hot water bottle on Jane's lower stomach. She took her in her arms and planted a comforting kiss on top of her head.

"What's the post-it for?" Intrigued, Jane took it off the hot water bottle and read the message on the small sheet of paper. "A coupon for a delayed birthday present? Really?" She laughed. "You're one of the craziest person I got to meet! This is... Yeah well... I don't know."

Maura winked.

"I saw this in a lifetime movie the other day. The story was extremely bad..."

"Lifetime movies are rarely Oscar worthy. Since when do you watch this kind of thing? I thought that if it wasn't an Iraki movie subtitled in Mandarin, it didn't make it to your list!"

"Margot wanted to watch it. Anyway – as I was saying before you interrupted me – the scenario was very poor but I liked this moment a lot. The couple has just had a child and they both know their life is going to follow a very different pattern for a little while so the woman gives this coupon to her husband."

Jane frowned. Perhaps the detail hadn't caught Maura's attention but it had for her. Breathing loudly, she bit her lips and tightened her grip on the hot water bottle.

Why did she have to be apprehensive? She always was when someone alluded to something personal. She hated it.

"Is it something you'd do if we had a child? Would you give me a coupon too?"

If they openly talked about the different options to have a child now, it was the first time that one of them gave in and played the fantasy game. Jane was the first surprised by her own boldness.

"I don't know..." Maura smiled, amused by the idea. "Why not! After all, I already do it to postpone your birthday _celebration_. It could almost become a running gag between us."

"Yeah. And something nobody else would know about. I like that." Jane laughed lightly. "I'm sorry we're not celebrating right now. Looks like we've hit the married life dark side. Goodbye dear sexy times and hello shitty reality."

Maura grabbed the post-it and stuck it on her bedside table before focusing back on her wife. She cuddled against her.

"There are more important things, Jane. I am not with you just for sex, you know that." Taking advantage of a short moment of inattention for Jane, Maura stole the novel from her hands and read the back cover a bit absentmindedly until her eyes stopped on a word. "_Juliet_?"

Jane immediately understood what she was referring to.

"You like it? I kind of do. The same crossed my mind the first time I saw it in the book. Juliet... It's cute for a girl. Juliet Isles-Rizzoli... Juliet Rizzoli-Isles."

Maura blushed. Did the fact they talked about baby names already mean that they had finally taken their decision? At least indirectly? They officially hadn't come to any conclusion yet, though.

"I like it, yes. It is a classic name..." The delight turned short as a darker thought suddenly invaded Maura's mind. "But what if people spend their time asking where her Romeo is? This is terrible."

"Juliet could have a Juliet instead of a Romeo."

As much as the remark was sweet, Maura discarded it right away.

"Except Juliet is heterosexual in the play so I hardly doubt people would make such allusion. We can't choose a name that has chances to be the source of many jokes."

Fair point.

"Then how about Margot?"

This time, Maura leaned up on her elbows and locked her eyes in her wife's dark ones to make sure that Jane wasn't mocking her.

"Margot like in... Margot? _Our_ Margot?"

The use of the possessive adjective elicited a smile on Jane's lips. Yet she completely agreed with Maura: Margot was _their_ Margot; on many levels.

"Yes. We owe her everything, after all. The name is cute – Margot Isles-Rizzoli or Margot Rizzoli-Isles sounds good – and I don't see what kind of jokes people could make about it."

Maura pondered the question for a few seconds then finally nodded.

"But what if it is a boy?" The fact that she hadn't formulated a hypothesis but a strong possibility by using the present simple made her blush. It had been a Freudian slip but still... She had basically let Jane understand that she gave the green light to maternity. "I mean..."

Jane shrugged.

"If it's a boy?" She blinked, wrinkled her nose. "Then back to the store because I have no freaking idea!"


	20. Leo, Joshua And The Others

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all the reviews and messages. **_

**March**

**Chapter Twenty: Leo, Joshua And The Others**

"Dr. Isles?"

Maura looked up from a stack of papers and smiled at her administrative assistant. Emma had been working for her for the past three years now but she rarely dared to come in the autopsy room. She found it intimidating and singular.

"Yes?"

The employee seemed a bit embarrassed, pulling over and over on the sleeves of her jacket. A shy smile finally played on her lips and she cleared her voice before speaking.

"Someone pretending to be your daughter is here and would like to see you...?"

Maura held back a chuckle. Emma had all the reasons in the world to be confused.

It was rather well known at the morgue that the chief medical examiner didn't have any child. Maura looked at the large windows that overlooked the hallway and smiled at Margot. The student waved back at her. She was standing there, all smile and rather intrigued by the room. Sharp contrast with Emma.

"Perfect. Please take her to my office. I will be there in a couple of minutes." Back to her computer. "Thank you."

The administrative assistant nodded and left the room as quickly as she could. She really had quite of an issue with autopsy rooms even when nothing was happening there. The tables were neat – all empty – and Maura was quietly sitting at a desk to revise a couple of cases.

There was nothing intimidating going on in there for the moment.

Maura shut down her computer and stretched out her arms. Why was Margot here, in the middle of the week? She should have been in Cambridge.

Maura frowned and stood up. Was she supposed to be worried? Margot had looked rather cheerful though so it couldn't be that bad. Or could it be? Her curiosity piqued, Maura rushed to her office and went to kiss the young woman on the cheeks.

"What are you doing here?" Rather direct. Too much, perhaps? "I mean... It is nice to see you here." Better. "As much as I think that you did well to go live on the campus, I have to admit that I miss you too."

It wasn't the same without Margot at home. She didn't come back every weekend and Maura had a hard time dealing with this absence. She missed the closeness they had shared the first time Margot had come to Boston.

A weekly visit in Cambridge to share a meal was quite different. But then it was life and Maura had no other choice but to accept it. Margot was an adult now, she had to lead her life; her own life.

"I had a day off so I decided to come to Boston. Then one thing leading to another, I made it close to the BPD so it was only fair for me to stop by and say hello. Sorry for the daughter thing... Maybe I shouldn't have said that. It was a joke. Looks like your assistant is quite literal."

Maura laughed and swept away the remark with a gesture of the hand. Emma would never ask for further details – she was too shy for that – but she would probably remain confused for a while.

"It is okay. Would you like some tea?"

Maura didn't wait for an answer and went to brew some. The unexpected visit was sweet, just what she needed after a rather dull day at the office.

Nothing had happened and Jane wasn't even in the building. She was attending a trial which meant that Maura couldn't go up to the homicide unit floor for a while.

If some people didn't like working with their spouse, Maura had nothing against it at all. On the contrary. She and Jane were a team. They belonged to these couples who could spend most of the time together without having the sentiment to be suffocating from it.

It was a real chance and she knew it.

"Are you alone? Leo didn't come with you?"

_What was this question, Isles? They aren't glued to each other and you certainly shouldn't support this kind of idea. If you are all about women keeping their independence then show it._

Silence. A long one.

Maura turned around and looked at Margot. Why wasn't she replying? A latent panic began to spread in the scientist's stomach. Margot pouted and took a sip of her tea. She shrugged.

"We've decided to take some distance."

"What? Why? What happened? What is going on? What did I miss? What... Why?" If she had wanted to sound casual and calm, Maura had really failed: she had just broken a new record on the panic scale.

"Joshua happened."

"Joshua...?" This time, Maura didn't even try to hide her confusion. She knew that students could go from one relation to another rather easily but still. "Have you met someone? When?" She was extremely surprised.

As much as Margot had always made it clear that she wasn't looking for something serious and did not want to settle down, things had actually seemed to be anything but light with Leo. She and Jane had met his parents, after all.

That had to mean something.

The dinner.

Maura swallowed hard. What if it had gone wrong and that was the reason why Margot had taken her distance from Leo? She hadn't heard from his parents again but had simply assumed that they had been busy finalizing Elsa's arrival in the US. What if the reason was completely different?

Maybe they hadn't liked Jane and her.

"I didn't. Leo did."

End of the paranoiac scenario.

Margot's reply took her out of her endless – confused – daydreams. Although not for very long. She blinked and choked on her tea.

"What?!"

Maura's incapacity to formulate a complete question had only happened twice in her life: the first time when she had got a B in Biology way back then in junior high and the second time when she had walked in on Jane painting skulls on Bass' shell.

Margot had just managed to raise the rarity of such event to three times. A miracle in itself.

...

"Leo is gay?!" Astonished, Jane closed back the fridge and stared at Maura in disbelief for long seconds before chuckling. "I should've known better. Now that explains why he was so perfect. There's no straight guy who's _that_ good. Nah, that is just impossible. Talkin' from experience here."

Maura rolled her eyes but couldn't help laughing. It had cost her a lot to not call her wife as soon as Margot had left her office to break the news to her. She had waited to make sure to witness live her face and the wait had been completely worth it.

"Just because he is now dating a guy doesn't mean that he is gay, Jane. He could be bisexual or just curious or... You know, labels..."

Jane nodded. Maura was right. She didn't like all these labels because it confused her more than anything. She didn't see herself as a lesbian, barely as a bisexual woman. She liked saying she simply was Maura-sexual which – all in all – was rather true. She had never lived such an intense relationship than the one she was living with Maura.

"How's Margot coping with it? Was she alright?" Mama Bear Mode: activated. "Let me call her... I need to make sure she's ok. I mean... She got dumped by her boyfriend. She can't be _that_ fine."

Jane's sudden anxiety made Maura smile. It was cute. Jane probably didn't realize it herself but she was very protective with Margot. She had it in her genes. She would make a good mother if they ever gave it a try. Maura was sure of it.

"She wasn't in love with him, you know. I guess she just really liked him. She looked perfectly fine to me. We talked for an hour then she left because she was going to the movies with a friend... How about having dinner with her tomorrow night? Then you will be able to see by yourself how she is feeling."

Jane pondered the suggestion – opened her bottle of beer – and made a step forward only to trip over Bass.

Damn tortoise.

She was convinced that he couldn't stand her even after all these years. Maura kept on saying that he was simply traumatized after that leaf accident when Jane had fed him the wrong one. Bullshit.

He saw in anyone who approached Maura a potential threat.

He was a jealous bitch.

"Alright." Sigh. Lack of enthusiasm. Jane nonetheless grabbed her cell phone. She couldn't help it. She had to make sure that Margot was fine. "But I'm still sending her a message. After all, she did ask for the mama Rizzoli parenting so she is getting it."

Was she really fooling anyone with this poor excuse? Maura's smirk answered it.

Whatever.

She furiously typed a message then sent it. Done. Now back to her beer – her wife – and the infinite pleasure to not be on call tonight.

Or so.

A very disturbing thought suddenly invaded her mind; the kind that made her rethink pretty much everything. Pout. Snort.

"Wait a minute, Maur'. How come she came to you to tell you about the breakup and not to me?_ I_ am the cool mom. You're the..."

"The what?" Icy tone of voice.

_Wrong choice of words, Rizzoli. Wrong choice of topic if you want to spend a quiet evening. Give up now. Really._

"So... Movie night, right?" Jane grinned a bit too enthusiastically. "What have you chosen? I'm so looking forward to watching it." Fakery at its best.

Maura raised an unconvinced eyebrow but didn't insist. Or at least not on this point.

She had a better weapon at reach.

"What do you want... I suppose that Margot came to me because I am the wisest one, let's face it."

Jane choked on her beer - laughed the remark away - and opened her mouth to speak but finally remained quiet. Sadly, Maura was right on this point and she couldn't fight it.


	21. A Major Change In Our Life

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all the reviews!**_

**Chapter Twenty-One: A Major Change In Our Life**

"What?! Oh, c'mon!" Margot shook her head in disbelief. She sat on the edge of Maura's desk and squinted her eyes at Jane. "What kind of difference does it make if Leo dumped me for a guy? He dumped me: period. It'd have been for a girl or a cat that it'd be the same for me. Why the fact it's Joshua makes a difference?"

Jane nonchalantly shrugged and leaned her head backwards. She closed her eyes. If there had been doubts at some point, it was now clear that she was a Rizzoli because she enjoyed this little fight of opinions a bit too much. The smirk that was playing on her lips completely betrayed it. Guilty pleasure at its best.

"Would it make a difference for you if Maura left you for a guy instead of a girl?" Margot crossed her arms against her chest but didn't wait for an answer. "It has to be an American thing... Ava told me exactly the same."

The last comment made Maura chuckle but before her wife's offended look, she decided to remain quiet and focused on the suede stilettos she was now cleaning. They were running late, anyway. It was not the best time for her to give her opinion about the conversation or else Jane would drive a bit too madly once they hit the road.

"Well everyone isn't as sex fluid as the French. As for Maura..." Jane briefly looked at her wife in her back and bit her lips. "Both would hurt me a lot more than I can probably even imagine." Her voice slightly broke. The conversation was taking her back to a time when she had had doubts – a lot of them – about her relationship with Maura. She had been scared to lose her, she did not get at all why the scientist had chosen her. "Maybe it's a pride thing. I'd hate it if anyone managed to steal Maura from me."

"I can assure you that it won't happen, Jane." Maura checked out the shoes one more time then held them out to her wife. "Here they are... Please, next time make sure to not spill yogurt on them barely five minutes before we have to leave." She trotted to her bag - grabbed it - then gave a satisfied nod. "Alright. Let's go."

Maura had just passed the door and left the house when Margot stood up and accidentally made a whole stack of papers fall down. She squatted to clean her mess but didn't put an end to her conversation with Jane.

"I'm sure Maura thinks just like me."

Stilettos: on.

Jane rolled her eyes at Margot's stubbornness and looked around for her purse. Where had she put it again? A car honked outside. It had to be Maura who was losing her patience.

"Of course Miss-Love-Is-Fluid would. But you're right. Maybe it's cultural, after all." Victory: she found her purse under one of the cusions of the couch and was about to walk to the door when she noticed that Margot had frozen, a sheet of paper in hand. Frown. "What's going on?"

"You..." Blank voice. Margot looked up, the confusion in her voice palpable as ever. "You're... You are pregnant...?"

...

Maura cast an embarrassed glance at Jane then shrugged at Margot. She grabbed her plastic tea cup but didn't bring it to her lips. She wasn't thirsty. The drink was more of a subterfuge than anything.

"We were waiting for the right moment to let people know about it. As long as nothing is sure, we prefer to not say anything. Do you understand?"

Margot slowly nodded. As soon as she had picked up from the floor the results of Jane's analysis, she had understood what was going on. More or less.

"I'm sorry, it was an accident. I didn't sneak around. I made a big stack of papers fall down and..." She bit her lips as a wave of remorse invaded her. "I didn't mean to read the paper. My eyes just landed on it and then it was too late."

Jane smiled at her with all the patience in the world then turned her head to look by the window of the small restaurant. They had finally made it earlier than planned and – after an awkward drive to Harvard – had decided to get a drink for a well needed face-to-face.

_She knows._

The words were still resounded loud in her head. She had stepped in the car – looked at Maura – and let it all come out. Two words. Only two words. Maura hadn't replied – obviously shocked – and then they had driven off; Margot sitting in the backseat just as quiet and confused as them.

"I started the injections yesterday. It's all new." Jane let a nervous laugh escape. "It's a rather long process and the percentage of chances is very low."

"I didn't know that you wanted a child. When... Have you been talking about it for a while? A long while?"

The question caused Jane and Maura to look at each other and – against all expectations – they both burst out laughing. There was nothing dramatic about it anyway. Why did they have to take it all so seriously?

They would do just fine no matter the result. It was an adventure, a brand new one. An adventure they would go through together.

"We owe it to Leo's parents as a matter of fact." Maura's cheeks turned pink. Aware of her sudden blushing, she looked down at the table and concentrated on her tea. "We came up with a list. You know, a list of pros and cons. Three weeks ago, we decided to choose artificial insemination. So we both ran medical tests and it turned out that Jane had the best chances to get pregnant."

Maura hadn't taken the news badly. On the contrary. She had somehow felt relieved to know that it would be Jane who would go through it. She didn't see herself giving birth to a baby. Not yet.

She preferred to play the role of the supportive partner. It suited her better.

"Okay...?" Margot still seemed to be a bit shaken up by the news. She was happy – her eyes were glimmering of delight – but the way she had learned about the plan had taken her aback. "When... When is the insemination... I mean, when is it happening?"

"April." Jane grabbed Maura's hand and squeezed it tightly for moral support. Subconscious gesture but a desperately needed one. "It'd be a Christmas baby."

"Oh my God!" As half of the room turned towards her, Margot heavily blushed and waved her hand to apologize for her sudden outburst. She bent over the table for more intimacy. "I'm gonna be... I'm gonna be an aunt! A French aunt! Or whatever I could be for this baby. Maybe the godmother? Oh my god. Oh my god, oh my god."

And then the tears.

"Why are you crying? Maura... Tissue please."

Maura obliged and held out a tissue to Margot who immediately tried to control the damage. She couldn't afford big – puffy – eyes. Not now. Within an hour, they would join Cailin – Hope – and pretty much everyone to celebrate Cailin's PhD. One more doctor in the family. It was a big day.

"Because it's huge news! You're gonna be moms. It's..." Shrug. Sob. "It's... It's big."

Alright. Fair. The argument made Jane giggle. She was going through a lot of emotions since the day they had taken their decision. Fear – enthusiasm – hope. Everything was getting mixed in an odd whirl of borderline feelings.

"Why, you don't think it's great?"

The question made them laugh. They knew that if it worked out, everyone in their entourage would have the same reaction as Margot. And they were thrilled themselves. Thrilled but cautious.

It was too early to clutch to some hopes.

"I guess we don't really realize it yet." Jane shrugged. Her shaking voice highlighted her uncertainty and emotion. "We started yesterday so it's nothing yet. It's just the beginning... But please, keep this for yourself for the moment. I mean, you shouldn't have even known. My bad... I left the paper somewhere in this big stack of papers when I should have put it out of reach. Don't say it to anyone."

Margot nodded right away.

"Oh... Sure, no problem. You can count on me. I can keep secrets." She finally took a sip of her tea - reassured - but suddenly frowned at Jane. "And if you need anything... I'm here. Maybe the day of the insemination or... Well, you know. If I can help one way or another... I'll be more than glad to do so."

Margot would probably never realize how much the words she pronounced that day meant to Jane and Maura. Perhaps it hadn't gone as they had planned but they were glad that the French girl had turned out to be the first one to know.

Margot held a special place in their heart. They were taking it as a sign.

"Take the muffin, Jane. You need to eat for two, now."

Margot pushed the pastry on the table but Jane shook her head. The gesture made her laugh though. It was sweet; a bit ridiculous but sweet.

"I'm not pregnant yet. There's no need to stuff me up like a goose."

Pout. Eyes squinted in disapproval. Margot's signature when she disagreed on a point. She shook her head – just as expected – and blatantly put the small plate in front of Jane.

"You still need strength to face your hormonal cocktail. The road is long... Take it. It's your favorite one, besides: double chocolate."


	22. Who Jane Really Is

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews and messages, I'm glad to see you like this story.**_

**April**

**Chapter Twenty-Two: Who Jane Really Is**

"I would like to raise my glass to these two..." Korsak pointed out Jane and Frost with an obvious pride in his voice. "It's thanks to you that the BPD is what it is today... Brilliant, hardworking detectives. Congrats, guys!"

Jane shook her head – more embarrassed than anything – but timidly raised her glass as Maura and her colleagues did.

They cheered. It was a day of celebration, after all. She and Frost had solved the cold case they had been working on for the last few months. A stressing one considering media and politicians were closely following it as well. Exit the pressure of bringing results every day. They had succeeded in the most glorious way. Time to turn the page.

The evening at the _Dirty Robber_ was thus more than deserved.

She brought the glass to her lips but froze as soon as she felt the beer brush her mouth. She put the drink down on the table right away and blankly stared at it. She couldn't do that. The insemination had taken place three days earlier. She couldn't drink alcohol now. Maura had assured her that this wasn't an issue – that an occasional glass was just fine – but now that she was in front of it, it was very different. She didn't want to touch it.

Perhaps she wasn't pregnant – she had to wait for a few days before buying a test – but what if she was? She couldn't be sure. The percentage of her chances were low enough for her to not make it worse.

Luckily, neither Korsak nor Frost seemed to notice her gesture. Both men were enthusiastically chatting, sharing their impressions over the last events of the day.

"The second round'll be on me!"

Alright. Jane made a face. Maybe they hadn't realized that she hadn't touched her first glass but this joyful spirit wouldn't be helping.

She couldn't drink as she usually did and yet she didn't want to get their curiosity piqued either; not as long as she didn't know whether her pregnancy test was positive.

Her eyes landed on Maura's. She discreetly motioned her beer and shrugged, implicitly asking her wife what she was supposed to do of it. Maura looked at the glass but didn't seem to understand. She frowned, blinked.

"Hey! Are you hungry? I'll go get the menus." Frost stood up and walked to the counter while some woman a bit further called Korsak's name out loud.

Jane watched her two colleagues go away and – once she was sure that it was safe enough – she bent over the table to talk to her wife.

"I can't drink that. It's a pint... A whole pint, Maura." Brief glance at Frost who was now talking to the waitress. "C'mon, drink it." She pushed the glass towards her wife.

"What?! You know that I don't like beer." The scientist looked at the drink and made a face. Why had Jane chosen this type of alcohol? It was her least favorite one. "Just have a few sips, it is okay."

Jane shook her head. Vehemently, stubbornly.

"I can't! It's psychological. I can't drink it. You gotta help me!" She tilted her head – locked her eyes with Maura's – and waited.

Puppy eyes mode: activated.

One. Two. Three.

And abdication. Maura loudly sighed then grabbed the glass. She looked at it hesitantly but gulped down half of the pint in one go nonetheless. Growl.

"Stick to water, next time. Or order a Merlot."

...

Margot went to sit down but when she realized that a chair was missing, she immediately motioned Jane to take the one that was available. The Italian rolled her eyes and held back a snarky comment.

This had to stop. She already had an overprotective wife at home - and at work - who made sure that she only walked around surrounded by bubble wrap paper.

She hadn't come to Cambridge to get the same ridiculous treatment.

_Since when do you hold back your remarks, Rizzoli? _

"I'm not dead yet, Margot. Damn. Maybe I'm not even pregnant."

The comment made the student laugh. She brought a second chair to their table and sat down. Her room was just as neat as the last time Jane had showed up unannounced. Jane found it a bit scaring. Weren't students supposed to be messy?

_The smell's different though._

It didn't take Jane long to come to conclusions she would have preferred not to face. She frowned - looked all around - and finally stopped on Margot.

"You're smoking pot?"

"What?" Margot cast a confused glance at her room then shook her head at Jane. "No, I'm not. Why do you say that?"

"Because it smells." Jane sniffed again to make sure that she hadn't been wrong. "I swear it does..."

Margot burst out laughing. The scene was slightly incongruous. She raised her hands in a non-guilty way and shrugged.

"I promise you I don't touch these things. I only..." She turned her head around and stared at one of the windows that she had left open. She clapped her hands. "There you go. I'm on the first floor so maybe someone's smoking pot out in the garden."

Window closed. End of the story.

"Alright." Aware of her over-protective reaction, Jane forced a smile and nervously moved on her chair. "I'm sorry I didn't want to sound..." To sound what? Like her mother? "I started in the drug unit at the BPD. I saw some stuff... You're too bright to do these things. I don't want you to waste your life with it."

Margot swept away the worried comment with a gesture of the hand.

"Oh, don't be worried. I've never been into drugs. I only do guys." She paused and looked at Jane's incredulous face then burst out laughing. "I'm kidding."

Nervous laugh from Jane. She had been knowing Margot for a while now but she still had a hard time with her sense of humor. It was a bit too twisted for someone who lived with a very literal Maura.

"Well... I suppose if Maura was here, she'd tell you sex is healthier than pretty much everything so... Whatever."

Margot pouted. She had to admit that Jane was right on this point. If it had taken her aback the first time she had come to Boston, she was now doing okay with Maura's peculiar absence of any kind of boundaries regarding such matter.

"Alright. I didn't ask you to come here for that anyway." The French girl turned around and grabbed a notebook from her desk. Pencil in hand, she looked back at Jane and shyly smiled. "I signed in for some sociology classes this semester and I need to write an essay about a specific person who chose a not so... Random job...?" Margot's hesitation was palpable. She had a hard time finding her words and did not make eye contact with Jane anymore. Uncomfortable, she ended up clearing her voice and let a nervous laugh come out. "I chose you!"

"You think I'm not normal?"

_Jeez. Calm down, Rizzoli. She chose you. Shouldn't you feel honored or something? C'mon, smile and apologize. You're way too susceptible lately. Freaking hormones!_

"I mean... Wow." Alright, that was somehow better. "First of all, thank you for choosing me. I mean I guess...? Then..." She couldn't help it. "I have a question, though." Nope. She really couldn't help it. "I'm married to a 2.0 version of Dr. Frankenstein, the fashion week option. Why not choosing Maura? Why going for a detective when you can have the chief medical examiner of the state?"

Margot scribbled down something on her notebook. Jane squinted her eyes at it but didn't manage to read it. What had she said? Why had Margot written something down? It was sociology, not another Cailin's Guinea pig experience, right?

"Maura's job is extremely interesting – you're right on this point – but I'm more interested in your very own career. You chose a risky job, a tough one that can also be rewarding at times. You meet plenty of people – you see the worst of our society – and yet here you are, maybe carrying life in you right now. It's singular, in a good way. Hopeful."

For long seconds, Jane didn't move. She stared at Margot and let her words dance in her head, bump into each other trying to make sense. She was touched by the gesture and confused at the same time. It didn't make much sense to her.

"What did you write? I told you something and then you wrote something down. What was it?"

The question didn't seem to bother Margot the slightest bit. With all the confidence only a twenty-year-old could have, she locked her eyes with Jane's and replied.

"I wrote that you didn't seem to realize all the great things you're doing in your life. It's like you're unaware of all these accomplishments and only see them in others. You're humble, Jane. Maybe a tad much. You're an incredible person but it's like you don't know it."

A heavy silence followed Margot's answer; the kind that always carried a truth people had a hard time to face.

For whatever reason.

Aware that it was her turn to speak, Jane looked down – closed her eyes – and took a deep breath. Margot had taken her aback. One more time.

Sob.

"Don't write about the tears. It's freakin' hormonal and nothing else."

_Oh... Who do you think you're fooling, Rizzoli?_


	23. We Will See

_**Author's note: Thank you very much for all the reviews!**_

**Chapter Twenty-Three: We Will See**

Margot observed the scene in silence. Sitting on a stool in the kitchen, she watched Maura hold Maddie's hands as the one-year-old toddler made her first steps towards an ecstatic Jane. Small – unsteady – baby steps; the ones they would never forget.

Jane had squatted and opened her arms widely to welcome her niece against her frame. She was cheering out loud at her, yelling of delight.

The moment Maddie reached her destination and Jane took her in her arms, Margot's smile vanished swept away by a wave of bitterness. Life wasn't fair. Jane looked in her element with the toddler – a honest grin lighting up her features – while Maura covered Maddie of light kisses.

The insemination hadn't worked out. There wouldn't be any Christmas baby.

_It's the game. That's life. We knew it didn't have many chances to work out._

Jane had shrugged - forced a smile - then passed to something else almost right away in a vain attempt to hide better her disappointment. Maura had simply nodded.

Meanwhile, Margot's heart had broken into a thousand pieces.

"You're made for this." Aware that perhaps she was rubbing it in, Margot tried to smile as brightly as she could. "Look at you two with Maddie. You can't give up already. You'll be awesome with your own baby."

Jane and Maura looked at Margot in silence. They hadn't taken the failed insemination as badly as Margot had and the truth was that they didn't know how to comfort her. They hadn't expected such reaction from her part.

Maura took Maddie in her arms and began to rub the toddler's tiny back almost subconsciously.

"We haven't given up. We are just studying our remaining options. We need to learn from what..." From what had happened, or better said _had not happened_. "We just need a little break now and rethink our strategy."

The turn of phrase made Margot smile. It was so typical from Maura to put a subconscious distance between her acts and her speech. She had a very academic way of presenting things.

"You don't wanna try a second insemination?"

Jane walked to the kitchen counter and grabbed Maddie's plastic cup. She held it out to Maura and started sweeping away the crumbs of the birthday cake she had baked. Maddie had loved it.

They hadn't been able to attend the official birthday party so they were now catching back on it as much as they could. It mostly resulted in a huge multicolored cake and a dozen of presents that lay now on the living-room floor. And a very excited Maddie who loved spending time with her aunts because she knew that it would be all about her and she would be spoiled until the last second.

"Not yet, to be honest. It's physically and emotionally exhausting. The injections, the wait... I don't think I'm ready for a possible second failed attempt."

At least Margot was glad to see that it wasn't taboo. Jane and Maura hadn't let anyone else know after all. It was a delicate matter but seeing that they didn't have any issue whatsoever to talk about it comforted her. If only a bit.

"I understand that. I just really hope you won't give up completely because when I see you interact with Maddie – and with TJ when he's here – I know you're made for it. You're great with kids. You have been great with me."

...

"Oh... Are you Jane Rizzoli? Or should I say, Jane Rizzoli-Isles?"

Notebook in hand, Jane cast a confused glance at Frost before nodding at the woman who had just stopped her in the middle of the street as they were walking out a building after interviewing some guy for their current case.

Who was she?

"Oh my! If I had known I'd meet you one day in real life." The woman bit her lips and shook her head in obvious disbelief. "How is your daughter doing?"

Frost held back a chuckle but turned his back at the stranger to make sure that his reaction would pass unnoticed. Jane remained still, divided between the desire to hit her colleague and run away. Both were tempting. Another one who had probably read the interview of her and Maura in _Out Magazine_.

"She's... She's doing great, thank you for asking. She's almost done with her first year of college."

The woman looked impressed.

"She's in Cambridge, isn't she? You must be so proud... Anyway, I just wanted to thank you for the interview you gave. My sister and her partner just had a little girl and they're a bit worried about it. They're afraid people will end up making remarks and all... They're afraid their child might suffer from remarks, you know... Your story cheered them up. You're the proof same-sex couples are just as good as parenting as straight couples. We need to see this more in the media."

Alright. Perhaps Jane had misjudged the woman a bit too quickly. As much as Margot wasn't their daughter, she knew that they had taken the right decisions whenever she had been under their roof. Yet she had never imagined that the interview would have such impact on other couples. A positive one.

"Say hi to Maura for me."

The woman waved ggodbye then left just as quickly as she had appeared. Jane waved back – a bit late though – and looked at her go away.

"Do you think we'd be good mothers?" She hadn't had time to control her words. They had come out all by themselves, hitting the air with a disturbing fairness. She turned around and decided to assume it until the end. "Do you think Maura and I would be good parents?"

Frost didn't seem taken aback by the question the slightest bit. He immediately nodded, as if it were the most logical thing in the world.

"You're a balanced couple. You bring Maura what she needs and vice-versa. The result is that you're a good team; at work and outside of work. So... Yeah. I think you'd do well with a little one."

"Hmm." She paused – at the mercy of inner thoughts – then looked all around rather feverishly. "Go back to the BPD without me. I need to run a few errands."

Frost squinted his eyes at her sudden odd behavior. Had he said something that he should not have said? What had happened?

"You're okay?"

Jane nodded until her blank smile melted into a laugh. She ran a hand through her hair and locked her eyes with her colleague's. She grabbed him by the shoulders.

"I'm good. I just... I just need something. Something for Maura and I." And maybe a large bouquet of flowers too. And champagne. Maura never said no to champagne. "If you see Cavanaugh... Tell him I'm taking the rest of the day. I gotta work on something."

Before Frost had a chance to ask for further details, Jane ran away and crossed the streets. She had not forgotten the address and if she hurried up a little then she should be there within ten minutes which should give her enough time to prepare the rest.

"Ouch!" If she didn't pay more attention to the other passers-by, chances were that she wouldn't be ready for anything whatsoever. "I'm sorry." Hand in the air, Jane looked up to apologize and froze. This had to be a joke. "Constance?!"

_Only you, Rizzoli. Only you could bump into your mother-in-law in the middle of the city while she's in Boston twice a year._

"Jane, what a surprise! I was about to call Maura to let her know that I was in town. How are you?" Constance studied her from head to toe. "In a hurry?"

"Kind of...? I ahem..." She couldn't dismiss Maura's mother. Yet what a bad timing to see her. "I'm... I'm on my way to ahem..."

Then it hit her. Why did she have to keep on hiding things from others? She looked around her for a very last time – as if to look for approval – then smiled at Constance. She didn't really believe in all these fate things and such but perhaps it was meant to be.

What was the percentage of chances for her to meet Constance by accident in the street?

"Have you something planned or you can spend the rest of the afternoon with me? It's... I need to do something very important, something for Maura and I. Something she doesn't know about and it'd be nice if you could come with me."

Constance didn't hide her surprise but immediately nodded.

"Sure...! I have just arrived and wanted to go for a walk then maybe buy flowers or a bottle of wine for the two of you. I was hoping to have dinner with you. If I can help you..."

"I think you can do a lot more than just that, actually." But there was no time to lose now. She had lost enough like that for the moment. Jane motioned her the way and resumed her fast walking. "I have to say it might take you aback and... Maybe it's not the best way to let you know but it's fair enough you get to be a part of it. Maura doesn't know, of course. But I know she'll think just like me."


	24. From There

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all the reviews and messages.**_

**May**

**Chapter Twenty-Four: From There**

"I have to be honest with you." The woman slightly leaned over her desk and crossed her hands. "Your file is delicate. Not because you are a same-sex couple – we have absolutely no issue with this – not because of financial reasons but because... You both have demanding and risky jobs. It won't make you win points."

Maura forced a smile. These weren't news for neither her nor Jane. They had always known about it and had filled the forms aware that it was an element that would show up at some point.

"Yes, we ahem... We're conscious of that but do you think it's really going to be an obstacle?" Jane swallowed hard and tried to ignore her shaking tone of voice. "I mean, do we still stand a chance? We do, right?"

The social worker brightly smiled and relaxed on her armchair. She closed the file.

"Most definitely. However, it is going to depend on the commission... I prefer to make things clear right from the beginning to avoid a possible upcoming disappointment if your application is turned down."

Alright. Fair enough. Jane nodded but didn't manage to smile back. She was too anxious for that. It was so clear in her head now that adoption was the best option for them that she didn't want to think that they might fail. Constance knew about it. She had come with her to pick up official papers and had played an active part in the process, highlighting the idea that Jane and Maura were perfect to adopt a child.

She had been more than supportive when Jane had let her know about it the day they had met by accident on the street. They had rushed to the adoption agency together to get the forms then Jane had told her everything.

The insemination, how the stranger met on the street an hour earlier had set it off everything in her head making it all so clear; so suddenly. She wanted to adopt. She really wanted it.

Just as Jane had imagined, the evening she had come back home with the papers – a large bouquet of flowers and champagne – Maura had been touched; and thrilled. Then everything had seemed to be so logical that Jane was now convinced adoption was the right solution for them.

So... No. They couldn't fail.

"When do we get to know the decision of the commission?"

The social worker opened a window on her computer and checked a rather full calendar. She pouted then pointed out with her index finger a date Jane didn't manage to read for her sitting too far.

"June, 6th. Then if the decision is positive, it can go rather fast. Considering your jobs, there will be controls to make sure that you are quite capable of raising a child; controls at work and at your place. Once this part is done, adoption can really start. You meet the children, get to know them etc."

"Okay, thanks." Jane timidly nodded. "That... That sounds good."

"Adoption is a roller-coaster adventure. I can't but wish you the best. Honestly, the only point the commission should discuss is the one relative to your jobs. The rest is... The rest is perfect." The social worker stood up and held out her hand to shake Maura and Jane's. "See you soon, then."

...

Jane offered her best Cheshire cat smile at Margot. The student laughed, Maura only rolled her eyes then buried her face in her hands.

"Oh boy." Back to her wife. "You are really proud of yourself, aren't you?"

Of course, Jane was. Just as Maura knew it. Her question was a purely rhetorical one. She did not need an answer. Jane was parading with pride. Literally.

"Well, shouldn't I? Margot got an A+ thanks to me. Okay, I didn't really understand everything in this sociological essay but hey... I know what an A+ means..." Jane winked at Margot. "Remember the day you told me you'd had chosen me and I didn't get why?" Nod. "Well, scratch that. You got that A+. It's enough of a reason to justify your choice."

"I can't believe that you have just graduated from your first college year. Are you sure that you don't want to stay here until you get your Master's Degree?" Maura held back a sob by drowning it in her glass of champagne.

Margot had been very clear. She would only spend a year in Boston then go back to Bordeaux for the rest of her studies. And she had done it. Her academic year in the US was now over. She only had one month left in Massachusetts before heading back to the South of France.

"Maybe I'll come back for my Master's Degree but I also want to see how a French university works and... I don't know! I want to be a librarian. I need to go back there and sign up for the right classes if I ever want to pass the competitive examination to become one."

"I don't give you three weeks before you decide to come back here and stay here forever. If I weren't a cop and if we weren't on watch for an adoption process, I'd definitely kidnap you right now...!" Jane raised her glass of champagne. "Anyway... Here's to you. Congratulations. You did very well for the first college year and I'm sure you'll be a fantastic librarian as much as it's a freaking boring job."

"Jane!"

Eyeroll.

"What? It's true, Maura." Back to Margot. "I never understood why you wanted to become one... I mean I get you like books and stuff but... It's boring!"

"I want to work for a children library. It's not just about the books, it's about being with the kids too and organize plenty of stuff for them... To make them love literature too. I want to create workshops, plenty of things. I don't want to die of boredom in an old and dusty library!"

Jane nodded. She knew all that and she actually agreed with Margot. Her projects were interesting and she really was passionate about the job. But still, a part of her didn't want her to see the French girl go.

"Are you sure you don't wanna be an au-pair instead? We're gonna need one soon."

Hopefully.

"How are you coping with that, by the way? I sent them a letter too when Constance told me what she had done for you. I don't know if it'll have some influence but..."

"This is really nice of you." Maura grabbed Margot's hand to squeeze it tightly. She still hadn't got over the fact her mother had played such an important role in the adoption process. When Jane had come back home with the papers in hand and had explained everything from beginning to the end, Maura had found herself speechless. She had stared at her mother who was standing behind Jane and had thrown herself in her arms. "I am sure it will make a difference."

"I won't leave the US before I'm sure you get the green lights, anyway."

The adoption was completely different from the artificial insemination. Everyone knew about it this time and Jane and Maura felt better. They received a lot of support – from friends, colleagues – and felt a lot stronger than the way they had handled the insemination. None of them would give birth – probably not – but they were fine with it. It suited them better.

Yes. They held a lot of hopes on this.

"So if you're accepted, you want a newborn or...? How does it really work?" Margot scratched her nose and looked at Jane in all seriousness. "You haven't talked about that yet. I'm curious to learn how all these things work. You want a boy or a girl? Or both? Oh yes, why not adopting two kids?"

"Jeez, one at a time." Jane shook her head but couldn't help laughing. She loved Margot's energy. She was always in a good mood, full of life. Her smiles were contagious. "We'd like to be able to adopt a very young child but then it's okay if he or she is older. Who knows...?"

"The only thing that is sure is that it is going to be an open adoption. You know that I am adopted so there are some things – some methods – I prefer to others. It hasn't always been easy for me to... To not know my biological family. And even when it all became clear... It wasn't always funny. But... I don't regret it nonetheless. Hope and Paddy are part of me. I can't deny it and I don't want to."

Margot nodded. It wasn't the first time they talked about adoption and she had always appreciated the fact that Maura had never had any issue whatsoever to link her personal experience to it. This would help her in the future, Margot was sure of it.

A lound bang put an abrupt end to their conversation. The three of them turned around and looked a bit in disbelief at Bass who had knocked over a whole pile of magazines. Maura rushed to him and tried to reassure him. Jane rolled her eyes at Margot instead.

"Never get a tortoise. They're weird."

She might have whispered it, she still got busted.

"I heard you, Jane." Maura snapped her head around and shot a frosty look at her wife. "I could tell you to never get a couch yourself if you want to make sure you will never be forced to sleep on it at some point."

Oops.

Time to neutralize the potential conflict.

"Champagne, anyone?" Jane grabbed the bottle and brightly smiled at Margot and Maura. "It's a... It's a good one. Give me your glass, Margot. We're celebrating your brilliant start as a college student. Drink." Better. "Let's all drink."


	25. The Ying And The Yang

_**Author's note: thank you very much to all of you for the reviews and messages (I know, I really have to go through the PMs and properly send replies; sorry for the delay); this chapter is a bit of an extra, for Lucie.**_

**Chapter Twenty-Five: The Ying And The Yang**

Movement on her right. Sigh. Movement on her left. Eyeroll. Glance at Maura. Pout. Jane counted until five in her head then broke the silence that was getting on her nerves.

"I don't like yoga."

Maura didn't react. Lying on the floor, she remained perfectly still; her eyes closed, palm of her hands against the floor.

"This isn't yoga but relaxation. Close your eyes and take a long breath. Then repeat, over and over." A peaceful smile played on the scientist's lips. "You are stressed. This will help you."

Jane reluctantly sighed but didn't insist.

She closed her eyes and tried to focus on the music. It was not as zen as Maura had told her that it would be. The river theme music only made her feel like going to the bathroom. Epic fail. She rolled on a side and leaned up on her elbows.

"Where are you going to?"

Dammit. Busted.

Maura really had a very developed perception of things and movements. Back to the floor and to the boring exercizes.

"Nowhere..."

She liked the yoga room but only to bounce like a mad woman on the Swiss ball. It was too calm for her, too uneventful. She did believe in the benefits of it but couldn't bring herself to enjoy it properly. And she had tried. She really had. But it simply wouldn't work. No, she wasn't made for it. She wasn't...

Maura's hand landed on her inner thigh without any warning. The contact startled her. End of her inner wonders. She opened her eyes – looked at her wife – and swallowed hard.

"What are you doing?"

Maura mischievously smirked and raised an eyebrow as she let her finger trace invisible circles on her leg.

"I am helping you to relax...?"

Bullshit. Jane laughed out loud and shook her head. She knew Maura way too well and by the way she was looking at her, it was clear that the scientist had other things in mind. Interesting things. Unplanned but pleasing.

"This won't help me to relax. This will drive me on the edge, Maura. What happened to yoga time?"

With a barely contained nonchalance, Maura bent over Jane – her breasts crashing against her wife's face – and grabbed a bamboo stick to hit a small suspended gong.

"Yoga time is over." Smile. "Satisfied?"

The sudden change of activity was slightly borderline. Jane tried to think about something she may have done wrong and would call for a devil plan from Maura but nothing came up. No. She hadn't done anything bad.

The only conclusion that she could come to was that it was _really_ play time.

"Well... Namaste...?"

Maura's light laugh died in the crook of her neck as she began to trace a path of kisses down to her wife's shoulder blade; her hands wandering on her hips.

The house was quiet. It was a beautiful Sunday – warm and sunny – and for once, nobody had stopped by to ask them anything. Margot who had left the campus and was back to Beacon Hill with them had gone out for the day. Angela was babysitting TJ and Maddie. They were alone. Together.

It was the perfect day for some intimacy.

_And that hasn't happened since forever, Rizzoli. So you better enjoy it. For once you can go bold out of the bedroom without fearing any interruption..._

The more she thought about it, the more it became obvious that they had gone through a dense year. It wasn't that they had neglected their couple – not the slightest bit – but the house had often been a tad too full for them to enjoy moments like the one they were having now.

"If this is a new kind of yoga, I'm all for it."

The remark made Maura smile. She straddled Jane and took off her shirt before leaning back over her wife. She ran a suggestive tongue over her lips and locked her eyes with Jane's dark ones.

"Is this an invitation for me to check your suppleness?"

"I kind of like it when you tease me like this..." Jane ran a hand down Maura's back and passed it underneath the yoga pants to caress her buttocks.

They had been married for three years now but she still had a hard time realizing that they had one day reached this level in their relationship.

It wasn't that it didn't make sense – it did – but she did not understand how it had happened; how one day she had been able to kiss every single inch of Maura's skin with this complete freedom she was having now. How they hadn't been too afraid of the radical change in their relation. How they had got married. Married.

"But let's see who the real yogi is, here."

Without waiting for a reaction from Maura, Jane grabbed her wife by the waist and pinned her down under her own body. She plunged a hand between her legs and captured her lips in a deep kiss. It didn't take Maura long to start sighing.

In the mood to lead the game, she slowly made her way down Maura's body. The kisses she was leaving on the medical examiner's shivering skin resounded loud in the room; loud and overwhelming.

Tantalizing.

The throat – the breasts – the lower stomach. As she reached the line of Maura's pants, Jane leaned up on her elbows then pulled on the piece of clothing. In vain. She tried again. Second fail. Frown.

_The hell, Rizzoli?_

"These _Lulu Lemon_ things have to go, Maura. They're impossible to take off."

Maura burst out laughing and looked down at Jane who was studying the yoga pants in obvious despair, pulling on them like a mad woman.

"Do you need some help...?"

Nod.

Maura stood up and locked her eyes with Jane's. She took off her bra then got rid of her pants in a fluid motion. She was completely naked, not hiding a single inch of skin. A full - inviting - eye-contact with her wife.

"Satisfied?"

Jane didn't talk. She sat up on her knees and grabbed Maura's legs with a semblance of authority as her lips began to travel up the knees – the hips – and the thighs. She didn't try to tease her wife. She wasn't in the mood for that. She wanted her now. Right now.

The second the tip of Jane's tongue brushed the flesh, Maura gasped and arched her back. She leaned her head backwards and tried to look for support, any kind of support. In vain. Time for a plan B.

She went to sit on the floor but Jane prevented her from doing so and let an ironic laugh pass her lips.

"What do you think you're doing? Yoga isn't about lying down and wait for it to happen."

"But I am not even leaning against a wall. I..." Her short breath betrayed her obvious arousal. It had not taken Jane long to get her on the edge. This game was too easy. Delightful but too easy. "Help me!"

"I've known you more creative." And without waiting for a reply, Jane went back to her caresses; a smile playing on her lips as she felt Maura's distress and pleasure increase.

"Fine. Don't complain if your back hurts afterwards. And I mean it."

Maura passed a leg over Jane's shoulder and found a semblance of balance. She closed her eyes and fully focused back on the sensations brought up by her wife's tongue on her sensitive flesh.

Jane's hands had made their way to her breasts for a teasing massage; back to her stomach. Slow caresses contrasting with the pace of her tongue.

Maura swallowed hard.

She opened her mouth to speak but the angle of the touch made her gasp again. She bit her lower lip yet let a low moan escape. Her heart was beating fast, now. Her skin was shivering. Her chest didn't stop rising and falling while she had let her hand run through Jane's hair to pull her head closer to her body.

"Gonna... Fall down."

Jane smiled but immediately grabbed Maura's buttocks to make sure that she would remain on her feet until the end. To an unusual place, a challenging position.

Jane had actually assumed that she would make a move afterward in the shower. Maura hadn't wanted to wait until then. She thus had to pay for it one way or another. Wasn't yoga about finding balance in the oddest position ever?

As a powerful wave rushed through her body, Maura widely opened her eyes and held her breath. She stared in front of her, shaking between Jane's hands; at the mercy of the circular movements of her tongue on her over-sensitive flesh.

She remained quiet. Not even a gasp could pass her lips.

The only thing she could feel besides the paroxysm of her own feelings was her wife's hair brushing her inner thighs in a teasing way, sending butterflies to her stomach in an echo to the orgasm she had just had.

"We..." A kiss on a shivering thigh. "Need to put..." A kiss on Maura's lower stomach. "A locker on the door of..." A kiss between her legs. "On the door of the yoga room." Jane grabbed her wife by the waist and forced her to sit down to be at eye-level. "Way too many people can come in at any moment."

Starting with a child if their adoption plans went alright.

Jane didn't see herself trying to explain a two-year-old why Maura would stand naked and panting in the middle of a room surrounded by a couple of large Swiss balls – a Tibetan bowl, a gong – and zen music in the background.

No matter she was the yogi in this story.


	26. A Comedy Of Errors

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all the reviews!**_

**Chapter Twenty-Six: A Comedy Of Errors**

Jane tried to turn her head around but winced in pain. Why did fate always have to go against her at some point? Yes, Maura had warned her but it hadn't lasted three hours either. She shouldn't even be sore right now.

_You're getting old, Rizzoli. Accept it. Next time stick to safer positions. You're not in your twenties anymore. This is over. Over. Capisce?_

One slightly kinky yoga session and she was stuck on the couch, unable to move around. It was sad. Really sad.

She grabbed one of the chocolate bars she had put on the coffee table and began to chew on it while watching absentmindedly a pointless lifetime movie on television.

She had called in sick in the morning after a desperate effort to roll on her side and grab her phone to dial the BPD. Maura had left earlier, called on a crime scene. Jane had been alone to deal with a rather excruciating pain that had made her moan so loud that Jo Friday had rushed to her to check what was going on.

Of course, Bass hadn't bothered.

The bitch.

She could have been dying on the kitchen floor that the tortoise wouldn't have moved an inch. Jane snorted. If this wasn't the proof that he didn't like her then she was the Queen of England.

"Oh no."

A large bit of the chocolate bar missed her mouth and landed on the floor, probably by her feet but she was not in condition to look down and go for it. Zen. Deep breath. No panic.

"Hey, Bass! Come over here and eat it." Jane tried to smile as she spotted the tortoise somewhere on her left but the pain only managed to make her look like a mad woman which scared Bass who just walked away. Growl. "Damn he's really worth nothing."

Doorbell.

"Ha!"

It had to be Frost. Her colleague had promised to stop by around noon to fill her in with the latest details of the case they were working on. A gruesome series of murders in Chinatown, mafia related.

Jane clenched her teeth to prevent herself from screaming in pain and stood up. She slowly made her way to the door. The bell rang again. Damn, why were people so much in a hurry?

"Hi, come in. I was havin' KitKat lunch. Do you..." Wrong interlocutor. Jane squinted her eyes at the woman who was standing in front of her; a notebook in her hand. In her early thirties. "May I help you?"

"Meredith Baxter, from_ A Roof For Children_." The social worker held out a hand. Frown. Confusion before Jane's absence of reaction. "The adoption agency?"

"Oh!"

Oh. Jane bit the inside of her cheek. Yes, fate had really decided to mess with her this morning. She motioned the woman to walk in.

"Come on... I mean, come in!" Nervous laugh. Complete fail. Jane closed the door and tried to act as normally as she could in spite of her back pain. "Would you like some coffee or maybe tea?"

_The chocolate bar, Rizzoli. There's chocolate bar on the floor. Don't tell her to go to the living-room now. Don't do that._

"A tea would be nice, thank you. I showed up at the BPD but one of your colleagues told me you were home on a day off. Don't be worried, it is just a very random visit. I had planned on starting with your workplace but it's okay if I visit your house first."

_Yeah totally okay... NOT. Damn damn damn damn._

Jane led the woman straight to the kitchen and hurried as much as she could to the television to turn it off. Jo Friday trotted to her.

Excellent. If Bass was too much of a diet freak to approach the chocolate bar on the floor, her dog however would have no issue whatsoever to eat it. She gently pushed her towards the couch. In vain though. Jo Friday took it as a sign to start playing. Ugh.

"What a lovely neighborhood you're living in. And what a lovely house too. Do you have a patio or a backyard?"

Jane turned her head a bit too fast. She swallowed hard as the pain reminded her to slow down a bit.

"A patio but with many plants and a couple of trees. My mother actually lives in the guest house. It is really..." She tried to push Jo Friday towards the chocolate bar again. "It is really great because it is the best way for us to have our family around. We love having Sunday lunches with the family..."

The dog finally turned around and spotted the chocolate bar. A second of hesitation. Jane squinted her eyes at it. It was not chocolate but the biscuit part of the bar. Jo could eat it.

_Go for it, dammit. I won't yell at you for that. C'mon, Jo Friday. You can do it. Go!_

Victory. Relieved, Jane turned around and smiled as warmly as she could at the social worker. She walked back to the kitchen and proceeded to brew some tea with a terrible nonchalance. She was in her pj's - hadn't bothered to shower - and she was convinced her hair could have passed for a Jackson Five homage.

"The visit consists in a tour of the house, am I right?"

Meredith nodded. At least she looked nice and Jane didn't have to worry too much about it. Maura always made sure the house was impeccable and it was.

Besides, with TJ and Maddie coming from time to time, everything was ready to welcome newborns and toddlers.

"Sorry if I interrupted your... Lunch?" The social worker cast a glance at the coffee table and raised an eyebrow."

Shit. Nothing to worry about when it came to Maura but for Jane, it was another story. What kind of parent was she supposed to be if she fed herself of chocolate bars for lunch?

"Yeah well... Nah, not really. I woke up a bit late so I ski-..." Skipping breakfast was not really what could be seen as a better excuse. Not at all. "I'm a big chocolate fan. Don't tell my wife. She does not let processed food pass the door of this house. These bars are... A bit of a guilty pleasure, I'm afraid. You know, once in a while."

"I perfectly understand. Don't be worried. By the look of your kitchen, I can say that you don't get to eat a lot of junk food. I have to say that... Oh my god. What is that?"

Jane followed the woman's gaze – as much as she could considering her back pain – and rolled her eyes. Bass had just made an entrance in the kitchen by bumping his head against the fridge.

"This is Bass, our tortoise. Or better said, Maura's tortoise. It's quiet – slow – and inoffensive. This is just his way to say he's hungry. My nephew loves him. When he was younger, we used to make him take a little ride around the kitchen on the shell."

Meredith laughed. She seemed taken aback but not offended nor scared. Jane definitely understood. The first time she had met Bass, she had been quite surprised as well.

"He doesn't bite?"

Jane grabbed a leaf and put it down on the floor, in Bass' plate. She carefully patted his back for a better effect. The tortoise approached and began to chew on the green leaf.

"Oh no...! It's a... A nice tortoise. Very patient, especially with children who are always curious. It's not every day they have the chance to approach one!"

Door bell. Again. It had to be Frost. Bad timing. Jane poured some tea in a mug – held it out to the social worker – then excused herself. She literally ran to the door but froze when opening it. What now?

Why, fate? Why?

"Hi! I forgot my keys here last night." Margot stormed in – dropped her bag on the floor – and cast a glance at Jane. She had spent the night at Cailin's. "I'm starving. Have you had lunch already?"

Before Jane had a chance to stop her, the French girl started walking towards the kitchen; her face turned towards Jane.

"How's your neck? Unless it's your back...? I forgot. You'd know better than to go wild with Maura in the yoga room. You gotta keep the dirty kinky stuff for the bedroom. Hahaha! Oh c'mon, there is no need to make this face, Jane. Maura told me about it. I met her by accident on the street. She had blood everywhere. Looks like the crime scene she went to was particularly gross... Ew... At least I did not walk in on you going at it, this time! See my dear _mothers_ have sex is not on my bucket list."

Jane turned livid.

Of course Margot hadn't noticed the way she had quietly – desperately – tried to make her stop talking. Of course the young girl had talked loudly. Of course the social worker had heard everything.

Of course.

Dammit.

Margot turned around and jumped with surprise as she came to face the woman. Hand on her heart.

"Oh boy. Sorry, I hadn't seen you. I'm Margot." She held out her hand to shake her interlocutor's.

"Meredith Baxter, social worker from _A Roof For Children_; the adoption agency...?" The uncertain tone of her voice betrayed her utter confusion.

"Oh." Margot blinked, suddenly realizing the delicacy of the situation before her rather loud and oh so unappropriate entrance. "Nice... Nice to meet you...?"

Jane made a face. So much for calling in sick.


	27. Goodbye

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all your reviews and messages.**_

**June**

**Chapter Twenty-Seven: Goodbye**

Maura grabbed the muffin – observed it for a long moment – but finally put it back on the table. She wasn't hungry at all. As a matter of fact, she was everything but hungry. Nauseous, mostly. A lump had formed in her throat; a painful one. It didn't prevent her from breathing but it surely made her life hard.

Every single second that passed by.

"She will come back."

She had pronounced the words out loud as if to convince herself that it was what Margot would do. Because she had left. For the second time. She had gone back to France, just as planned.

"Of course."

Jane wasn't feeling any better than her wife. She had remained awfully quiet during their drive back from the airport, only nodding when Maura had suggested that they could stop for a coffee at some place.

Anything to avoid the emptiness of their Beacon Hill house, just like the first time they had taken Margot back to the airport after her stay in Boston. 5801 Pickney Street was not the same anymore. The house would be too quiet, too empty even if they knew that it wouldn't last.

"What do you want to do tomorrow?"

Maura's question was fair but Jane simply shrugged back.

She should go to work, no matter it was Sunday and she wasn't supposed to be there. At least she would feel busy and not as pointless as if she were staying home doing nothing but lamenting herself over Margot's absence.

The truth was that they had plenty of things to do. They wanted to paint new furniture – do some gardening – as well as attending a photography exhibition in Cambridge. Okay... This last point was on Maura's list but Jane didn't mind much. She had been told that there would be free food so it still was a win.

So they had things to do. She just didn't want to focus on any of them for the moment.

"Curl up in a ball – stay in bed – and eat smores while watching movies after movies...?" It wasn't necessarily what Jane really wanted but – all in all – it perfectly summed up her current state of mind.

"Oh. Jane, Maura... What a surprise!"

End of their depressing self-introspection.

They both looked up at the same time and froze. Leo. They had almost forgotten about him after he had broken up with Margot. They had apparently remained friends but Jane and Maura hadn't really had a chance to see him again.

Or at least not until now.

"Hey..." Jane stood up and shook his hand. "How are you?"

Maura repeated the gesture and invited him to sit down at their table. Out of politeness. She wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone; barely to Jane herself. Thankfully or not, Leo declined the offer. He motioned instead a group of students a bit further.

"I'm with friends so I can't stay but when I spotted you, I decided to come and say hello. How are you? We all miss Margot here."

"Ugh." Jane grabbed her coffee cup and nodded. "Same here, same here."

"I'm sure she was nonetheless glad to see her parents again. After all, they didn't visit her here at all and she only went back there for Christmas."

Jane was about to nod again when Leo's words hit her. She exchanged a confused look with Maura. What was going on? How was she supposed to interpret the statement?

"Her... Her parents...?" She certainly hadn't forgotten that apart from her so-called ex-husband, there was not a single parent supposed to wait for Margot in France.

Leo laughed - swept everything away with a gesture of the hand - then shook his head.

"C'mon, I'm not stupid. I know you're not her mothers. It's obvious. She probably wanted to impress me and all – which worked out – but the rest... Nah, it was just a game for me. I hope I didn't really put you in delicate situations. It wasn't intended. I was just having fun." Leo winked. "Well, I gotta go, now. Have a nice day and see you soon hopefully!"

Jane and Maura looked at him go away, completely taken aback by what he had just said. He had to be kidding. This couldn't be true.

"The fuck...?!"

One. Two. Three.

"Language, Jane. Language."

...

They came back home a few hours later just as the night was falling down over Boston. Not even the perspective to go to the restaurant had had the slightest influence on their mood. Nope. Nothing.

They only wanted to lock themselves in – maybe open a bottle of wine – then let the hours fly away in the warmth of a shared bath and yet Jane had the feeling that they would argue over the choice of the music. Anything but Yo-Yo Ma.

Please.

Maura turned the light on as she stepped into the lobby. Lost in her thoughts, she put the keys down on the console table and dropped her bag on the floor. Jane closed the door behind her and took off her jacket.

Back to the randomness of life. One more time. Or so.

"Oh my god!"

Maura's scream of surprise startled Jane who almost knocked over the console table. A hand on her heart, she stared at her wife as if she had lost her mind but finally froze as she came to realize why Maura had had such reaction.

A hundred purple and green balloons were floating up in the air - in the living-room - while a dozen of presents had been put on the coffee table. And nobody around to explain the scene.

"Please tell me a clown isn't about to show up." Jane's irony: extreme level.

She made her way to the coffee table – pushing away the balloons – and grabbed a large envelope that had been put down on top of the biggest presents.

"I didn't know that you suffered from coulrophobia." Maura had sat on the couch - quietly waiting for her wife to let her know about the contents of the envelope - but suddenly realized she was waiting for an explanation. Uncertain shrug. It was one of these delicate moments when she didn't know whether she had to apologize. "It is the phobia of clowns... As much as the term is of recent origin, the prefix _coulro-_ may be an actual neologism derived from the ancient Greek word _kōlobathristēs_ meaning "stilt-walker"..."

And enough.

"Alright...?" Jane opened the envelope and took a letter out of it. She immediately recognized the handwriting as being Margot's. Her curiosity piqued, she sat down next to her wife and began to read out loud. An unexpected missive was better than Maura going Wikipedia. Any time. "_My sweet – dear – mothers..._" Sigh. Eyeroll. "_By the time you make your way through the living-room with some comment regarding clowns for Jane and Maura giving an academic explanation to it, I'll probably be somewhere above the Atlantic Ocean. France is calling me back, if only for a while. That doesn't mean I won't be the awesome godmother I promised to be. Now we know you got the green light for the adoption – in spite of a very rock n' roll first home visit – it's only a matter of time before a mini-Jane or a mini-Maura walks around this house and scares the hell out of Bass._"

Maura gasped. Jane laughed. Different reactions to hide the very same feeling in the end: they were extremely touched. Too much, perhaps.

Jane resumed the reading.

"_Anyway, as I still don't know whether you will have a girl or a boy... I chose gender neutral gifts – which I am sure you will both prefer – as well as not blue nor pink balloons. This is my way to say hi and welcome to the future child who will have the chance to call you both 'mom'. Or 'mommy'? And I know for a fact what I'm saying here. I'm not exaggerating. You two are the best thing that happened to me so far these past few years... You opened your arms to me and offered me a second family, on the other side of the 'pond'. Girl or boy, it's obvious you will be fantastic parents. Please accept these little presents. For her, for him. Still not thinking about twins? Too bad. And don't roll your eyes, Jane._"

Maura chuckled. Margot definitely knew them way too well.

A bit upset by the oh so true remark, Jane sighed but focused back on the letter nonetheless. She had started it, she couldn't stop now. No matter she couldn't disagree more with the way Margot seemed to describe her in it.

"_The next round of presents... I'll be here in person to give them to your little Rizzoli-Isles. I know it was my decision to come back to France and I do not regret it but I wish I could have been with you during this brand new adventure that has just begun. I wish you two the best; I always did and will always do. With love, Margot._"

It is only when she stopped reading that Jane realized her hands were shaking. She looked down at her lap, swallowed hard. The silence was heavy, loud of emotions and intense feelings. She took a deep breath and dared a look at Maura.

She was crying.

_No! Don't that, Maura. Please, don't cry._

Growl. Teeth clenched.

Eyeroll.

_Take that as a homage, Margot!_

Jane shook her head then tried to hold back her own tears. Snort.

"The French, I swear..."


	28. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

**Two Years Later**

"No! Margot! Come back here immediately!" Maura rolled her eyes. Of course, it wouldn't work. It never did. The toddler looked at her – laughed – then ran away in the opposite direction. And fail. "No..."

Sigh. Her daughter never listened to her. What would it be when she turned fourteen? She was only two years old. It shouldn't be so difficult. Maura shrugged in abdication and walked to the kitchen; pair of underwear in her hand. She looked at Jane and pouted. Puppy eyes: on.

"Can you try? Please...? It doesn't work with me. She doesn't take me seriously. She never does..."

Jane nodded – put down her coffee – then grabbed the pair of underwear.

What was it that Margot never wanted to get dressed? It took them forever every morning to get the little girl to put on her clothes; even the ones she had chosen herself. She preferred to run around the house naked. Or at least half-naked since she had accepted to put on her dress today. It was a miracle in itself.

"Margot Rizzoli-Isles, come over here. I won't repeat it." Jane held back a chuckle. This had never worked on her so why would it work on her daughter? She was just as sneaky. "And don't sit on..." Sigh. "On Bass' shell. He isn't a chair."

Margot giggled. She stood up – approached Jane – but ran away as soon as her mother made a step towards her.

Time for a chase. Jane started running after the toddler, avoiding every single obstacle that came between her and her daughter. Just another day at 5801 Pickney Street.

The door bell rang.

"Ma'goooo." Exit Jane: the little girl ran to the door and jumped over and over in an attempt to grab the large door knob.

Maura walked to the lobby. Apologetic smile at Jane. The conclusion was tragic: they both cruelly lacked authority. Jane pursed her lips but ended up shrugging.

"It's okay, Maur'... We're in August anyway. It's not like she needs underwear."

_What a pitiful excuse, Rizzoli. Pitiful. A two-year-old is driving you nuts - makes you run around the house - and you can't even admit it. Now, this is sad._

"Ma'go! It's Ma'goooo!"

Maura took her daughter in her arms and nodded at her.

"Ma_R_got. It is – indeed – Margot. With an "r", sweetie. Just like you." She opened the door and almost lost her balance as the toddler threw herself in her godmother's arms without any warning.

This child was way too full of energy. This wasn't normal. She was a tornado. A 24h/7 tornado.

"Watch out, she's going commando."

Margot looked down at the little girl – a bit worried at first – but ended up shrugging away Jane's comment.

"It's okay, she's wearing a dress anyway. Who knows what I'm wearing under mine, after all." She laughed and covered the toddler with kisses.

Jane blinked. She would never get used to the French girl's sense of humor. Nope. Never.

"We are potty training." Maura closed the door behind Margot and planted a warm kiss on her cheek before motioning the patio. "Everything is ready. You can go and lie down in the hammock if you want or... Just play with Margot... She hasn't stopped talking about you, this morning."

"Am I the first one?" Margot looked at the living-room. If it weren't for toys thrown haphazardly all around, the house looked empty. She locked her eyes with the little girl and squealed in delight. "It is your birthdayyy...! Look at you... You're a big girl now. How old are you?"

The toddler proudly nodded and showed Margot two fingers.

"I'm thaaaat big!"

Just after they had got the green light from the adoption agency, Jane and Maura had received a dozen of birthmothers files who were due within the year. They had checked each one of them meticulously and Penelope had turned out to be the right one.

A twenty-two-year-old student whose pregnancy had been an accident. She wanted to stay in touch with the baby and was more than glad to see the child being raised by a same-sex couple. They had met and had hit it off right away.

Penelope had accepted the adoption.

Everything had gone very fast. Jane and Maura had been there for the delivery that had happened a month earlier than planned. A little girl. They had named her Margot. A joyful baby; fair hair, blue eyes. Six months later, they had got the official papers from the court: they were now parents. Legally, according to the state of Massachusetts.

End of the story. Unless it was just the beginning. The beginning of the rest, of everything; a second life for the two of them.

"I can't believe that it has been two years already..." Maura shook her head as she watched the little girl take Margot by the hand to lead her to the patio. "I am feeling old, suddenly."

Jane went to stand behind her wife – passed her arms around her waist – and leaned her chin on her shoulder. She planted a loud kiss on her neck.

"Well... You _are_ old, Maura."

Gasp. Visibly offended, the medical examiner freed herself from the hug and turned around to frown at Jane. Hands on her hips. Lips pursed. Her anger was more than palpable to say the least.

"Excuse me?!"

Jane raised her hands up to apologize.

"I'm kidding. You look like you're eighteen. You're gorgeous. Satisfied? Jane rolled her eyes but didn't laugh; she did know better than to do that.

"No, not really. I didn't know that you had a thing for eighteen-year-old girls, Jane."

Oops.

"I don't! It was just... It was..." No reaction from the scientist. "Oh, Maura... Please. Don't make a scene now. Not today. C'mon!"

Gasp.

"Are you insinuating that I am a drama queen?"

_You'll never learn, Rizzoli, will you? Nope. Of course you won't._

...

"Honey, you have more cake on your face than in your mouth. Wait..." Maura laughed - grabbed a napkin - and cleaned her daughter's face full of chocolate.

Angela laughed as well.

"She looks more and more like you, Janie."

Focused on a set of new toys she was desperately trying to assemble, Jane raised an eyebrow at her mother's comment and pouted. Every single time that there was a family reunion, she got the same speech from her mother. But then what could she say? Tommy got it too; only twice more since he had TJ _and_ Maddie.

"I'm not her biological mother, ma'. She can't look like me. She's blond with blue eyes, besides. Tell me how she can look like me exactly...? Impossible."

"I guess your mother didn't mean physically. The temper..." Constance kissed her granddaughter's nose. "She has a bit of you and a bit of Maura... You are the ones who are raising her, after all. You are her role models so it is only fair that she copies you one way or another."

This time, Jane looked up and observed every single guest sitting at the table. Her relatives – as well as Maura's – and Penelope. They wanted to include her for Margot's birthdays. It was only fair.

Her eyes landed on Margot, the "French version" as she liked calling her.

If Jane had placed her bets on a possible return to the US before the French girl's master's degree, she would be rich by now.

Margot had decided to come back to Cambridge after a year spent in France. She didn't know if she would try to stay permanently once she graduated from college but her life was here, for the moment. And she loved every single second of it.

Especially now that _Little Margot_ was around.

"Do you think you're more like mom or mommy, Little Bug?" She took her daughter in her arms and hugged her tightly against her.

The little girl frowned – wrinkled her nose – and finally pointed out Maura. The scientist blushed. Jane chuckled.

"You're right. I'm certainly not the one who would go commando in a dress!"

One. Two. Three. Expected gasp from Maura.

"Jane!" Maura sat up and forced a nervous smile at their guests. "She usually is fully clothed. We are potty training...? We are simply taking advantage of the summer to go diaper free."

Which was not a big success for the moment but Maura preferred to keep this part for herself. They had all the time in the world, anyway. Margot had just turned two. It would happen. Eventually. Like all the rest: the first tooth that she would lose, the first time she would go on a date. College.

Maura made a face.

She wasn't in a hurry to see all this happen. As a matter of fact, her only wish right now was to make time freeze. Then she would spend the rest of her life enjoying the innocence of a two-year-old child, the happiness she brought them on a daily basis. The love as well. This inconditional - intense - feeling she could hardly describe.

The one she woke up to every morning and made her think that she was the luckiest woman alive.

Maura passed an arm around Jane's waist and planted a kiss on top of their daughter's head. She cast a brief glance at her own mother; at Margot to whom she owed all of this.

She smiled. Peacefully.

The things she would have missed if Margot hadn't existed...

The End

_**Author's note: thank you very much for all the reviews and messages you sent me over these two stories, I really appreciate it. A brand new story is coming, I will start posting it on Saturday. Rizzles endgame, of course. I hope you will enjoy it as well. Thanks again.**_


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